


Haunted

by Gentrychild



Series: Ascalon [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Check notes for additionnal warnings, Dementor, Gen, Light Swearing, Monsters living among us, Urban Fantasy, horror story, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-10-28 00:03:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 69,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10819533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gentrychild/pseuds/Gentrychild
Summary: This is a story about people trying not to become monsters despite what lives inside them.Riley is haunted by something who doesn't belong to this world, trying to live despite it until the day she can't ignore it anymore. People are hurt, time is running out, and among the chaos, she is searching a way to be free.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadyIrina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/gifts).



> I can't post this fic without mentioning how it was born.  
> The origin of this story came from an incredibly talented author: LadyIrina and one of her fic: Destruction, dubbed as the Dementor fic for it sucked the soul out of its readers. It affected me deeply, enough to create something else out of these feelings.  
> But more seriously, LadyIrina gave me the inspiration and the motivation to write a fic and I hope someone likes it.

The cold followed Riley everywhere she went, spreading along her wake. It was piercing through her bones, trying to clutch her heart now too numb to care, and was a constant reminder that something was deeply wrong. She learned to ignore it, like everything else she couldn't do a damn thing about.

Instead, when her chamber was too cold, too small, and the light of her roommate too ardent trough the two walls that separated their rooms, she left the security of her home, dressed herself and went out running. That night, she sprinted until until her chest hurt and her lungs cried for mercy, and she continued.

She was out of breath when she stopped, and forced herself to at least keep walking. The wintery air was biting at her skin and inside her lungs, she was feeling miserable because of this awful activity that shouldn't exist and it was perfect because distraction was the whole point. She grabbed her earpieces, checked out a playlist of something soothing containing songs from Marylin Manson, Korn, etc. and turned back. Now that she was exhausted, she would find sleep easily.

She was walking under the rows of streetlights when when heard the noise of a motor despite the music roaring in her ears. Car, noisy, but she wasn't worried. It was 4 A.M, if anyone was driving out there, it was because they have something else to do than bothering her.

At least, that's what she thought until a white S.U.V passed next to her and slowed down so much the car almost stopped. She ignored it and thought happy thoughts as the irritation was rising inside her. The window on the passenger side rolled down, revealing the face of a man smiling too much. Quite a nice face if his owner hadn't decided to bother her after her impromptu morning run.

« Hi ! » he called out. Nice to see another runner on this campus ! »

Riley was too polite to completely ignore someone who wasn't rude to her, so she kind of nodded and kept walking, advancing actually faster than the car.

And despite her resting bitch face (which she was proud of), the earpiece spilling music loudly enough for anyone not deaf to notice, and the fact that she started walking faster, he took that as an invitation. The passenger turned to the conductor and told him something that made him stop the car.

Riley grabbed her phone in the pocket of her running pants and she lowered the volume until the music was gone and she had the time to hear the conductor, also a man, say to his buddy to « Calm down. » She couldn't see him from where she was but could taste his presence on his tongue, hear the light he gave off. Something whispered inside her, the words unclear and foreign in the silence of the night.

She realized she stopped when the car door closed and the student began clearing the distance between them. He was still smiling like a boy caught red handed in the cookie jar, the expression of someone who was handsome and who knew it. She could also smell the discreet perfume he was wearing and the alcohol on his breath.

The whispers grew louder.

« Sorry to bother you, but since you're awake at this hour, would you like to grab a coffee ? » he asked « I love meeting new people. »

« I don't like coffee. »

Riley started walking again when he grabbed her by the arm.

The whispers became roars in her blood, the cold became frost in her soul.

« Then orange juice or smoothie, whatever you want, » he said.

He kept his hand on her, lightly. The car door opened and the conductor got out, calling his friend, Kyle, but staying by the vehicle. Tired by his friend's antics, not alarmed that he laid a hand on her.

Riley didn't pay him attention. Anger burst the bubble of indifference she was constantly evolving in lately and she focused on Kyle.

« What gives you the right to touch me ? »

Her voice was low, flat.

« This ? » he asked, nodding towards their hands and laughing a little. « I am just inviting you to take a drink, that's all... »

Riley pulled her arm toward her but he didn't let go, his fingers sinking into her flesh and any trace of joviality disappearing.

« Come on, this is ridiculous. You're ridiculous. »

Riley let go.

*

Something changed in a instant. Kyle knew he shouldn't have touched the girl but this was a spur of the moment, nothing to freak out about. He didn't deserve to be treated with such an hostility.

The world became cold and harsh around him. In a flash, he was assaulted by the silence, the darkness of the night while the haven of the streetlights wasn't enough anymore. He tried to gulp down but the saliva stayed blocked in his throat.

He felt exposed.

He staggered, something horrible spreading in him. He realized he was weak, not as strong as he liked to think, not as capable, not as charming or successful as he hoped. As if a veil has been ripped from in front of his eyes and the truth was appearing to him.

He was nothing.

He tried to run, only managed to step back. It seems each of his cells was devoured by an unnatural cold.

And at the same time, he also watched what was in front of him and that he didn't deign to see until now.

The girl seemed almost bored. A girl who was running with no fear during the night, wearing only a sleeveless shirt despite the winter, and whose shadow was wrong.

Their shadows were side by side, elongated because of the lighting, except hers was twice his' size. Larger, darker, and definitly not corresponding to the girl in front of her.

He tried to speak, to apologize or to beg, he wasn't sure, but his breath was stolen from him. With something else, much more important.

*

Riley watched Kyle fall on the ground, slowed by his iron grip on her arm. He finally let go and she did the same, interposing herself between the two students and the thing that never leaved her. Its influence reduced for now, as she wasn't the only prey.

Under the yellow lighting, she could see the four... no, five red marks Kyle's fingers left right below her elbow. It hurt but the pain was still far away, bearable. So she looked at the conductor, a man who actually looked younger than her. His eyes didn't see anything in particular as he was breathing loudly, more loudly than Riley after she ran.

She came to meet him, light on her feet and calm and collected.

« You are no better than your friend. »

He jumped at her words, surprised to find her suddenly so close. People never paid attention to their surroundings.

« What ? »

« He grabbed me. Laid his hands on me and pester me. And you let him. You drove the car, you made a shitty effort by calling him, and you would have let him hurt me because he's your friend. »

« No ! I wouldn't have. He isn't like that, he just drank too much... »

He stopped as he was understanding his excuses were pitiful.

« He hurt me. He scared me, and every time a man scares a woman, it leaves a wound she will have to learn to live with all her life. »

She leaned towards him, releasing her control and letting him feel the cold that never left her.

« So I did the same to him. »

He was apologizing as she left, but she didn't care about it. She just wanted him to learn and that was done. So she returned to her dorm. On the road, she checked her reflection in the glass of a building. Her face was blank, lacking any emotion. Inadmissible. She forced a smile upon her face, brought warmth to her eyes, and she now looked sweet and like everyone else.

The eyes were the most important. Eyes were the windows to the soul but anyone who cared a little could show what was needed through them.

By the time she returned to her room, took a nap and changed into different clothes, her best friend was knocking on her door.

« Riley, wake up ! We have Christmas shopping to do ! »

She took her jacket, muffling a laugh. She could feel the presence of her friend through the door, similar to ray of sunshine on her skin. Alexia had always been luminous, so much that her presence sometimes kept her friend from sleeping.

She remembered her arm and checked it for bruises. No need to alarm anyone. She was surprised to see nothing, only golden skin without any blemish or mark. Freaky shit.

« And french pancakes to eat, »she continued.

Riley opened her door to Alexia.

« Crèpes, » she rectified. « It's called crèpes. »

« I knew mentioning food would drag you out of bed. »

Alexia was a beautiful girl who seemed inhabited by unlimited energy, radiant and full of light to Riley's odd senses. Her blond hair reached her shoulders, framing a doll-like faces and sparkling grey eyes. She was also wearing a green jumper with renders that would assault every unfortunate bystanders' eyes.

Riley closed the door behind her and followed her friend. Standing between the innocent girl and the cold she was feeling on her back. The presence was always there, always hovering around people who irradiate warmth and Alexia was burning up.

Of course, Riley wouldn't let the cold destroy anyone, for she was strong. She managed to live with anxiety, with depression. She wouldn't be destroyed by some freaking dementor-like entity.

*

« What the fuck happened ? » Riley asked.

Her voice was alien to her own ears. So was her skin. She kept getting surprised when she saw her body move, half convinced it wasn't hers.

« We don't know yet, Miss, » the urgentiste said while checking her vitals or whatever.

He wasn't suspecting she wasn't talking to him but trying to ground herself. Someone was screaming at her right, a man who was shrieking like a banshee, unable to stop. There were also sobs here and there, but mostly, it was quiet. Despite the urgentistes, the firemen, the drivers, no one dare to speak too loudly.

Silence has fallen on the gaz station and the presence of something terrible was still lingering on the borders. Alexia was gone, taken on a stretcher in an ambulance. Comatose, broken by an horror Riley couldn't remember.

What happened ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it. I had so much fun writing it and I would love any comments, kudos, questions or critics. Tell me what you thought, pretty please!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the carnage and life keeps going despite it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What happened to Alexia?

**Three months later**

  


The girl sat on a white plastic chair, looking by the window and didn't react when Riley knelt in front of her. She tried to glimpse something of her best friend, but she was only seeing a doll that became brittle because of old age, her skin white as plaster, her eyes sunk into their sockets, and her blond hair, the color of honey, was lighter at the roots, starting to grow white. Her face didn't show anything, there was no light in her eyes, nothing.

Alexia used to be a beautiful young woman, full of life who led others into the light as if it was natural. And now, every thing in Riley whispered that it wasn't anything interesting to her, just an empty vessel where there was nothing to take anymore.

So Riley closed the book she was reading out loud and sighted.

 _Nothing to salvage here_ , her instinct said.

 _Shup up_ , she said to her instinct.

Ms. Stewart was behind the door pretending to be busy while tidying the corridor. She smiled when she saw her, but something was lacking in her expression. Life, maybe. She looked like she aged five years.

« Thank you for letting me see her, Ms Stewart, » she said with a little nod.

« It's still Rachel, Riley. And thank you, I know she likes it when you visit. »

Riley doubted Alexia would notice the apocalypse happening right outside her window.

« How is school ? I mean college ? »

« Busy, » she admitted. « We are close to Spring break so we have to work harder to have homework free vacations. Alexia is missed in our dorm. »

Ms Stewart hugged her. Riley saw it coming but still froze, containing her reaction. Alexia's mother was leaning on her, exhausted, and she squeezed back in an awkward way which still assure her she wasn't alone.

Other words were exchanged, showing concern, empathy, and hope, what Rachel needed to hear. The only comfort Riley could bring. And as soon as she left the house, as soon as she wasn't facing any windows, the smile on her lips disappeared.

The cold she kept in during the whole visit bubbled out in her chest, painfully clawing its way outside. The pressure fall down on her, crushing her as a punishment for her stubbornness and she huffed between her teeth to manage the pain without making a noise. The cold ate at her, and the world became clearer, spots of warmth of different intensity appearing. Not only people, but also ethereal traces in the air, signs of past activity. Burning when compared to the winter on her soul.

She climbed into her car and drove. She wanted to get away from this house, this family, before something else happened. She could feel something cold on her skin, like thousand of fingers grabbing her to catch her attentions. Her breathing grew quicker but she forced herself to keep going. It was just uncomfortable, she could manage.

Same thing when she began shivering, her fingers shaking despite being gripped on the wheel. Not a good sign.

She gave up when her sight became fuzzy. She was half blind when she parked, only discerning movements and the variations of cold and heat she was supposed to give to the monster. She leaned her head on the wheel, stopped the radio without looking and waited. To be devoured or for it to stop. She didn't care.

  


*

  


Lucas immediately noticed the cold when they left the car. At this period of the year, the temperatures should have been higher and he closed one button of his coat under Mallory's amused eyes. His boss knew how much he despised winter and everything that reminded him this stupid period.

Mallory and him walked to the lane and the white door of the Stewart's family home. Right before reaching it, Lucas noticed how warmer it was now. His head tilted and he stepped back, focusing. Mallory stopped and watched what he was doing, leaning on his cane.

« There is a temperature difference between here and there, » Lucas announced.

« I don't notice anything strange. »

« It's because you're half blind and three quarter deaf. »

Mallory raised his eyebrows and contained a smile. The foolish man found Lucas amusing and that left the former mercenary foaming at the mouth.

« So we're indeed talking about remnants. If one of them went here, how long ago was it ? »

« Today or I wouldn't be able to feel it. »

Did one remnant tracked down the Stewart girl here ? But if it did, why stopped right before the house ? Absentmindedly, Lucas touched the throwing knife at his wrist. The presence of the weapon was soothing.

Mallory knocked on the door and a minute later, a blond and tall woman was opening it. She was pale and looked tired.

« Good evening. Agent Pierce and Blake, from FBI, » Mallory claimed while showing a fake I.D. « We talked on the phone. »

« Of course. Please, come in. »

They did. They were invited to sit, coffee was brought, and as usual, Lucas let Mallory do the talking.

« How are you, Ms. Stewart ? »

« I get by. During the week, we have a caretaker for our Alexia. I don't want her in a hospital. »

« Of course. » Mallory nodded. « And is your husband home ? »

« No, he is actually travelling for work. I told him to go, he needed to clear his mind. »

There was no sign of the unnatural cold inside the house. Interesting.

« Can you tell us about your daughter ? »

Three months ago, a gaz station became the theater of a carnage. Everything electronic or mechanical stopped working, trees and herb died, and the ten people who were inside it have been changed forever.

The five people inside the station were dead. No wounds, no signs of choking, they have just dropped dead here and there. Four has been near the picnic tables, away, and had no idea of what happened, just that something hurt them without leaving any trace on their body. Their minds, however... Dissociation syndrome, catatonia, and probably something akin to post traumatic stress for one, but Lucas didn't know enough about the subject to assess it.

And one has been between those two spots, filling up the gaz tank of her car.

« You think Alexia was targeted ? » the victim's mother asked, showing traces of anger for the first time. « And what happened ? Nobody wants to tell us anything! »

« We are considering every possibility and we're thinking about a new approach. It would help to know more about the victims. »

And once again, with a smile and real compassion in his eyes, Mallory disarmed the situation. He knew how to talk to people, how to convince them to do the right thing.

Ms Stewart breathed deeply and focused :

« No one wanted to hurt Alexia because she was loved by everyone. Every parents hope for something like this for their children and that what's happened with Alexia. Not even because of how we raised her, she is just a bright girl who cares about everyone and they care for her in exchange. That's who my girl is. »

She looked on the side and the two men pretended not to notice how her eyes shone now.

« She was doing Christmas shopping with a friend. They were coming back to college and they stopped for gaz. I have the presents she bought in the cupboard. »

She passed a careful finger under her eyes, removing any proof she teared up.

« And except that, I don't know what to say, » she said.

« The friend. The other college student, Riley Weaver ? » Mallory asked.

« Yeah, she has no sequels whatsoever, » she almost spat.

Her eyes widened, as if she was surprised by her own resentment. My, she was blaming the girl for being alive while her daughter was comatose. Not surprising. Pain tended to reveal the worst.

« I mean, she is fine. Alexia's best friend, a really polite girl. She passed by today. »

Lucas tensed, like a shark smelling blood in the water.

« Did she had a good relationship with your daughter ? » he intervened.

Mallory touched his leg, quietly, to tell him to lay low on this one. But it was just too neat to be a coincidence. Someone passed today and left a imprint. Riley passed to meet her dear friend.

« Well, yes. Until Alexia's... accident, they were always together. Why, do you thing she has something to do with what happened ? »

« No, » said Mallory, polite but firm. « We are simply trying to find out why everyone was there at this moment. Thank you for answering, every detail can have its importance. »

Ms. Stewart nodded.

« Do you think we could see Alexia ? »

She agreed, reluctantly though.

Mallory walked up the stairs first, his cane making a distinct noise every time it touched the wooden floor. He was already limping when he met Lucas, the consequence of an interrogation when someone repeatedly crushed his knee until he was rescued. When Lucas had asked what happened to the interrogator, Mallory hasn't answered. He had only smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please, tell me what you thought about it!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My, my, what a pretty light you have here...

 

**Monday**

  


Riley was watching the clock, urging the lesson to finish quickly. Mondays weren't her favorite day and it was even more difficult to bear since there was only a week left before the break. She needed it, they all did. Every student in the class was stressed, their presence burning higher than before at the edge of her mind. The hum of their warmth was enticing and sustaining at the same time, but she needed a break to stop keeping the cold on the inside, or the pressure would make her scream like a maniac.

Half an hour left. Augh.

One presence burned more brightly than the other, a red haired man, two rows from her. He wasn't typing what the teacher was saying on his computer, wasn't even listening from the look of it. He was really still. She looked down more closely. He was looking at his hands placed on the table, fingers outspread.

 _Yummy_.

Even Alexia didn't gave off so much heat. Alexia was a beacon of warmth in a dark night, to such an extent that Riley could always guess where she was within a radius of two buildings. That one was a blaze in a meat suit.

Why ?

This was the kind of reaction her haunting could produce if it dug deep down enough, breaking everything on its way. Alexia had a different setting in a way, she was buzzing with energy and joie de vivre...

Riley stopped looking at him as if he was a piece of candy, and focused on French grammar. Then, at least, pretended to. She kept being drawn to it, like a calling at the border of her mind she could usually ignore but not anymore. She was tired, so tired, to keep that thing at bay.

Even now, she could hear it whispering, promising her the world if she stopped fighting it.

Riley wrote the inept things her professor was explaining, maintaining a cool expression. She wanted to leave the class right now and throw herself in a pool or something, needed space and quiet to deal with the shadow that didn't belong to her.

However, her professor would notice how she didn't even wait the end of his class and that would affect her credit, that she needed to have a better file now that her plans were compromised. Alexia and herself were supposed to work in the edition, in a firm where they have already worked as intern thanks to the former's dad. But now that Alexia was down, seeing Riley while his daughter was the shadow of her former self was too painful and suddenly the job wasn't available anymore.

She understood. Everyone in her dorm thought there was a central heating failure when she learned about it but she understood. Neithertheless, she was out of a job at the end of her studies. The joy of being an adult.

She needed credit. She needed money, independence, and control. Or an exorcism.

Twenty three minutes and maybe thirty seconds left. Why did that moron sat so close ?

 _Touching him now was impossible,_ it whispered. _Too much witness..._

Her eyes widened at this thought and she threw it back where it belong, away from her. Stray thoughts ran through her mind, born from the foreign instinct. The same instinct that told her traces of energy were flying around the red haired man, away from the core. It would be there even after he left before spreading around in the air, invisible to anyone who wasn't touched by monsters. But now that it was focussed, maybe, just maybe she could reach it.

Too much risks. Too much risks but she needed to release some pressure or it will lead to a disaster.

That was a justification and if she needed it, this meant she wasn't right. But still, she never pretended she was a good person.

Riley threw her will between the hungry ghost and the energy, mana, force, heat, whatever. It still responded to her calling, naturally, and started coming to her, disappearing as a little of the cold subsided. She kept going, until, quickly, there was nothing anymore.

Better but not enough. _Just a little more..._

Her target jumped and she immediately withdrew, pretending to be absorbed by a language that, for every rule, had a multitude of exceptions.

The cold didn't burn anymore.

  


*

  


Teddy's hands were constantly itching. Six days ago, he went shopping, buying the treasure that hasn't left his mind for three weeks. And everything was fine for a moment. Color came back in his life, food had flavor again, and life was manageable.

Teddy wanted to go home. Not to his rooms, but to his house. He wanted to go back to his family, to his mother, and sleep like when he was a child. Everything would be better at home, he knew it without knowing why or how. He missed the calm that he once took for granted.

There was five minutes left until the end of the class. He could feel the itching everywhere on his body, under his skin, like a thousand of ants walking on the other side of his epidermis. Was something watching him ? He had the feeling something did, but not always. Not a constant presence, not even certain, but he knew that it existed.

When he was alone in his shower or during his morning run, when he was going out with his friend of the basket ball team, when he was kissing his girlfriend. When he was awake or asleep. Sometimes it left him alone for days, other times it visited several times in a twenty four hours span, or didn't leave him for hours.

Sometimes he thought it was here with him, until the scratchings started again and he understood he was just remembering the stir.

He touched his bag with his foot to make sure it was still here, within range. He didn't remember when he started dreaming about it. At first, he didn't pay attention. Dreams didn't mean anything, at least that what he thought.

For six days, he took his bag everywhere with him, always in the same room whatever happens. A security blanket.

The class ended and forty students started leaving. As motivated than the linguist students were to gain some easy points, the day had been long for most of them. One girl with really long hair and in a red shirt dashed right next to him before sinking into the crowd, moving right between them as if there were no obstacle.

Teddy stayed where he was. People will have to process into the corridor before reaching outside and it would cause a human trafic jam. So he took his bag, put it on the table and waited.

He didn't exactly decide to reach it, just noticed his hands unzipping the back bag. It wasn't a conscious choice, he jut accepted that it was going to happen.

He took French because he needed an option and it was a sexy language good to have in a CV but he started liking it despite the absence of his friends or Chloe.

Teddy took out the black Beretta 9mm. He checked the magazine like he was taught to. Before leaving for college, his father and his big sister took him hunting every spring. His sister taught him how to shoot way before their father but it was him that taught his son how to hunt, how to track down a prey, how to kill painlessly, how to respect the act and the rush it provided.

He took out the safety.

Perfect.

He rose, grabbing his bag before following his fellows students. Most of them were still aggregated, like a herd. He took the shooting stance without posing.

He just wanted the itching to stop.

  


 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How fast can you run?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: mass shooting during the first part of the chapter. If you're uncomfortable with it, stay safe and avoid it, ok?

 

  
Riley heard thunder while the sky was blue. Devoid of clouds, she checked by reflex, with a glance. She was still trying to understand what was happening when the world lost its mind and everyone screamed and pushed around.

« Gun », the word appeared here and there in hysterical voices and she understood what was that deafening noise. And the second.

The crowd came to life, furious entity whose members tried to get out of the way of the shooter by every means necessary and Riley started running, not to flee, but to avoid being crushed by the panicked students. Someone rammed into her back, and she almost fell before grabbing a bag and using it as leverage to stand up again. She was pushed to the side while everyone was trying to scatter around.

The third gunshot sent them in a frenzy, when they finally understood this wouldn't stop. Each for oneself and God for all. Everyone ran for their life and Riley followed clumsilly, unable to focus on anything else than running away.

She kind of followed the movement, seeking safety in number from the cracking noises and went after a group of three. The place right outside the building was full of green and trees, seven minutes to reach a building at running speed, and even then, there were too much openings, not enough protection. Crap, crap, crap.

Something whistled next to her ear and the man before her crashed down. She threw her hand, about to pick him up without stopping when she saw the little puddle of deep red on the slabs. She stopped, blood rushing in her veins and her heartbeat deafening in her ears.

The world changed, growing colder and slower as something was rising inside her. Energy buzzing in her veins, her body lighter than a moment ago and the different sources of heat appearing around. Scared people, injured people, and the delicious one.

Noone was faster than a bullet so running was useless. Especially when there was an other way.

_Feed._

One look back, and Riley saw the man walking toward her, smiling. Not a bright smile, but the quiet one of someone relieved. His eyes locked on her's and for a second, he hesitated. She saw the finger on the trigger, how he was only a few meters away, and she understood she didn't have time to save herself. Too bad. But she didn't have to go down alone.

Cold seeped through him, infiltrated his veins, inside his bones, every fiber of his being. Agony dawned on him, The utter distress of having something vital ripped away from him.

He shot but it was too late. Riley was shoved hard to the floor, pain bursting in her chest and burning along her body. Anguish drowned her for a moment but she forced herself up, almost sitting down.

Right in time to see someone rushing to the shooter, clearing the distance as if air had less resistance for him than for others. The student didn't see him, still focussed on Riley, and was more stamped than hit. The red head crashed down but the knight in a leather jacket stayed standing and kicked the weapon out of reach. The younger man scrambled after it, desperate.

The dark-haired man tilted his head to the side, frowning a little, and his foot fell down on the annoying hand, with a crunching noise. The red-haired boy screamed, and a puff of bliss touched Riley, lessening the pain. As if her thoughts were on fire.

The man looked at her, lean and of average height, youngish and beautiful face, dark hair cut short with an undercut, dressed in dark jeans and black leather jacket. Eyes that didn't express anything as they laid on her. Riley didn't move, didn't do nothing beside soaking into the pain and the chaos around her.

He knew what she was. She could see it in the way he was looking at her, devoid of empathy. The kind of look of someone who didn't recognize her as a fellow human being.

He contemplated the scrambling boy still trying to reach his gun, and the injured girl hiding a monster behind her mask. He couldn't get to her without abandoning the other.

She looked behind her, ignoring the dead body right there, and saw people just a little further. Safety in number. She didn't show what was wrong with her in public, maybe he wouldn't too.

She tried to stand but her knees gave out, refusing to obey. Four people close enough, watching what was happening now that the threat seemed to be over.

« Please... »

A woman with ebony skin and a tee shirt with a peace sign, sweet irony, came to meet her, worry and compassion all over her face.

« It's going to be alright, honey, just relax. »

« Thank you. »

The man was crouched next to the former shooter, watching her carefully. He knew he lost his chance.

The woman turned around and barked orders with the tone of someone who wouldn't suffer any contradictions : « You ! Blue shirt ! Call 911 ! Now ! »

Riley frowned, not understanding while she was so worried about her. There were people in a worse state, here and there, and one just right there. And she didn't want her human shield to be freaked out about her well-being if she could help it.

« I am fine, I just need a moment, » she said.

Maybe. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. The balance she worked on the last six months was off , she could feel it to the marrow. The quiet world was becoming noisy and chaotic again, and she was colder than the rest of it. Far older.

It was only then that she noticed the warm liquid flowing on her skin and the throbbing pain on her shoulder. Her sleeve was soaked in blood.

She hasn't noticed.

Riley leaned on her good samaritan's shoulder and bless her, she let her. She waited in her embrace for someone else to take care of the mess instead of her, wrapped her in the wramth od someone who cared.

She waited with her until help arrived, forcing the cold to stay inside, and ignoring how much the hunger wanted to rip them apart to take what they have to offer.

 

*

  


« Did the bullet pass through something before reaching you ? » asked the doctor, puzzled.

« I didn't pay attention, » Riley lied.

Doctor Mears was an elderly gentleman who has completely ignored her when she explained she hardly needed to be taken to a hospital and that she wanted to leave as fast as possible. Instead, he had met him in a room in the hospital instead of the ER, has explained that she has just been in a traumatizing situation and that he couldn't let her go until he was sure she was fine. Which would take less time if she stopped arguing.

Her wound was minor, almost superficial. A shot for the local anesthesia (Mears had distracted her for this one), a few stitches after after having taken the bullet out, at her insistence, and she was operational. Kind of. But definitely ready to go. Away for the sick and the weakened.

She could feel every one of them, a multitude of lights something inside her wanted to smother. She felt better now that she has been brought here, her geist wandering around, intoxicated by the peculiar atmosphere of the place that welcomed the vulnerables, and keeping strictly off them was crushing the last of her nerves.

« It's not surprising, » the physician admitted. « And the one who did this was close ? »

« A few meters, maybe ? Is there a problem ? »

« Far from it. The bullet was immediately stopped by the bone, you shouldn't have any sequels. I am sure you don't feel like it but you were lucky. »

« I survived a shooting. I know I am. »

The journey in ambulance has left her numb again, unable to feel relief or remorse about the one who were killed. She couldn't even get angry at the deaths. There was nothing inside her to give, except the hunger of something that didn't belong to this world.

Maybe that was a good thing. Her mind was clear, devoid of distractions. For example, about the shooter she screwed with just before he decided to take his fellows students for practice target. The shooter, the student, because she never bothered learning his name despite spending a year in the same class. He had a weapon with him, so there was always a risk, but there was a strong possibility her actions pushed him over the edge. They probably did.

« What a shit day. »

« I beg your pardon ? »

Funny how anger pierced easily through her bubble of apathy.

« I think I had a really long day, Doctor. »

She could have swore she didn't touch him directly, though. She tended to know when she inflicted damages, and that time, there was no warning.

« I understand, my dear. I am deeply sorry. »

He touched her hand, warm fingers on her skin. She didn't react.

« Why don't you take your time ? No one will come here for a few hours. Rest, then when you're ready, go back home. »

She nodded, without actually agreeing and fished her phone in her bag as soon as the good doctor left the room. She didn't want to stay here, not when she was weak and blank.

She looked at her phone for a moment and brought it at her lips, the hint of a mirthless smile on her face as she realized she has no one to call. Her best friend was a walking dead, her family was several states away and she has severed contacts with her acquaintances after Alexia's accidents. She could pretend it was for their security, as she wasn't the safest person to be around, but actually, they have always been more Alexia's friends and she didn't have the decency of caring for them.

She left herself fall on the hospital bed and a splinter of pain stabbed her shoulder. She ignored it.

She didn't need the company of others, could perfectly stay alone for long periods, but she realized she was completely isolated. She was so well guarded around others than she managed to keep everyone away. That's what she wanted, but she now understood the consequences. She was alone with the monster on her back.

Dark thoughts for a dark day.

« I am alive. I am well, » she said out loud.

Sometimes, when the bad was too massive, the good needed some digging to be remembered. Saying it out loud helped.

She started a playlist, letting the music distract her. No need to drown in self pity. She would call an uber in a minute, will go back to her dorm to her fellow students and they would mourn together. Life would go on.

She closed her eyes for a second, only to rest them, and when they opened again, they were heavy and a mass of silky hair obstructed her vision. She blew them out of her face before realizing she was sprawled in the bed, still clutching her phone, while her mind was groggy. Something woke her but she couldn't guess what.

Local anesthesia and painkillers weren't a good combination. Maybe she could keep sleeping, try to hibernate. New experiences to put on her CV.

She abruptly sat, grabbed her bag, and listened, urgency holding her to the throat.

Everything was unnaturally quiet. Not the calm that helped her focuss when she was held at gun point this afternoon, but deep and disturbing silence. Not the hum of the crowd, not the noises that no one paid attention but assured they weren't isolate, and most of all, not the cold presence she managed to sense around her and did her best to ignore most of the time.

She looked at her phone. No signal. Of course.

Carefully, she stood up. She could feel a pulling sensation in her shoulder, something that should have been pain if she hadn't been on medication. There was a shoulder brace on the chair, the doctor has explained how her shoulder was too weak to support the weight of her arm. She put it on carefully. Every movement made a light noise, deafening in the threatening silence.

She grabbed her key, holding it between her thumb and her index like when she was younger and walking home at night. And then, she reached inside her, touching the horrible cold that now burned within her chest. If she had to face the things that went bump inti the night, she would keep her own monster close.

She opened the door and took a look. No one in sight, not the faintest presence.

She was alone.

  


 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Riley isn't having a good day. 
> 
> Writing is like riding a bicycle except the bicycle is on fire, the road is on fire, and I left my fireproof suit at home. Still, this is funny and I enjoy doing it. Sweet paradox.  
> It's also a journey for my writing to get better, so if anyone would want to say something about the chapter, don't hesitate! Comments and kudos help me write!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confrontation

The sound of her steps was muffled as Riley was walking in the deserted corridors. She stretched her senses, trying to find the sources of heat, characteristic of signs of life, but there wasn't any. Despite the faint traces in the air she could feel on her skin and sense in her mind, proof that there was people not long ago.

She reached the first door at her left, using her whole weight to push it and entered an empty room. The bed sheets were untidy, which meant someone has slept or at least sat on it not too long ago.

She couldn't help remembering the gaz station. The uneasiness when Alexia and Riley had stopped, and when her friend had asked her to grab something to eat while she was filling the tank. She didn't remember what happens after she was taking some candy bar, but she still remember the feeling of making a mistake.

She called the cold to her, letting it fill her, calming her down and erasing the last remnants of the shock of this afternoon and the giddiness of the analgesia. She couldn't let herself succumb to parasitic emotions, she needed to be glacial, so she wouldn't miss anything this time.

The smell of something delicious reached her, calling her name and awakening butterflies in her stomach. Something sweet, something light that stirred her soul and already filled the void in her chest. She was walking before she made the decision, and she did anyway.

She could have walked out, took the stairs and be gone, but there was something different that didn't only kindle the monster but drew her own attention. It was oddly familiar and she followed the trail.

At the end of the corridor, in the last room, was a light she recognized as the one that burned too high this afternoon and almost killed her. She knew who it was before opening the unlocked and unguarded door.

Riley stayed on the threshold of the hospital room. Similar to the one she just left, a little entrance with a door leading to a bathroom, then a little room with white walls, and from where she was, she could see the end of a bed and bare feet. And whoever they belonged was speaking, low. She listened for a time until she was sure there was no words but only gibberish.

« Hello ? » she called.

He stopped talking.

She looked at the threshold, hesitating before the humming she could feel vibrating on her skin. There something, more of the mute thing that took over the hospital while she was sleeping. She advanced her red sneaker to test if she was imagining thing or not but she met no resistance.

Continue or leave ?

Well, it wasn't as if she had anything to lose. She crossed it, feeling the weight of the geist sinking in her flesh, half trapped between it and the rest of the world. Slower, and less reassuring now.

The man laid on the hospital bed was handcuffed to it while an IV bag was spilling its content in his veins. He refused to look at her directly. Still, she could see how bloodshot his eyes were, as if he haven't slept in days. His skin has taken a gray tint, and he looked exhausted and in pain.

He has also shot at her this afternoon and killed several people, so compassion should have to wait.

He should be guarded. He shouldn't be here, in front of her, all in heat and delicious raw emotion. Nothing was right anymore, as if she had walked into a bad dream. She had some like that, dreams so real she could have swore she was awake at the time.

He whispered something.

« I didn't quite understood that, » Riley said, watching her palm, the lines of her hands.

If she recognized it as her own, she wasn't dreaming. She thought.

He repeated the words and this time, she understood « things » and « chest » . He kept looking at the floor, refusing to move his head.

« Speak louder or I am leaving you alone here. »

It was a shot in the dark but it worked. He shook his head, as if the idea revolted him.

« There is something sitting on my chest, » he said quickly. « There is something sitting on my chest that keeps me from breathing. »

Nothing to be seen but Riley knew better than everyone how the hidden things could be the most painful. She stretched her remaining functionnal arm, letting her hand wander above the young man torso, and she felt nor resistance nor change.

« There is nothing. »

His features distorted as he seemed to keep himself from sobbing.

« Maybe not now but it definitly was there, » he swore.

The despair was real, she was sure of it, but did it come from madness inspired by his act, or something stranger ? Like whatever was following her.

« What is your name ? » she asked instead, for it seemed important.

« Teddy. Theodore Lewis. You're Riley. You are in one of my classes. »

« Yes. Why did you cause a mass shooting ? »

Teddy flinched but that was the truth.

« Did I do this to you ? » he asked.

« You even aimed. »

She was wondering how she would have interacted with him if she wasn't so numb, enough not to care much about her situation. She could even have been civil if she hadn't saw someone died in front of her while running for his life, if she hadn't sense the life leaving others and if she hadn't waited among the maelstrom of raw emotions, sensing the entity feeding on it and having to face what she was. A parasite, a monster.

And from one monster to another, they didn't need to bother with the mask of civilization.

« I am sorry. I am so sorry, » he apologized.

« Why did you do that, Teddy ?

His jaw clenched, as if he was forcibly keeping the words from leaving his tongue.

« Don't you want someone to know ? » she asked. « At least one person, one person who can't do anything against you, who isn't even supposed to be here ? That means that will always stay between us. »

« You wouldn't believe me. »

Riley couldn't keep herself from smiling on that one.

She stayed a long time near his bed, just out of reach, standing up and ignoring the discomfort. She thought she could have unleashed the wesen on him despite the weird atmosphere, but it would have ripped him apart, and she needed this answer. She needed to understand.

And he finally talked, closing his eyes as if he was giving up.

« I wanted to be free, » he confessed. « I wanted it to stop gnawing on me. But I think I was too late and there is nothing left to save. »

She hesitated, recognizing the pain. And wanting to flee far away from it.

« For how long ? » she asked instead.

« I don't know, a couple of months. » He opened his eyes, a hopeful look passing on his face for the first time since she has entered. « Does that mean you believe me ? That... »

He never finished that sentence, his eyes widening funnily, and a cold shiver ran along Riley's spine. She finally noticed the entity has recoiled inside her. Hiding.

She didn't look behind her, preferring glancing at the reflection on the window. Night has fallen for some time and the yellow light of the room turned the glass into a near perfect mirror. And there was something huge and dark at her back, looming above her shoulder.

A nervous laugh tried to bubble out of her and she contained it swiftly because she recognized it and she knew that if she let it out, she wouldn't stop. Teddy opened his mouth but nothing came out, only air. She turned around, placing herself between him and the dark thing, staring it down with a confidence she didn't have.

It was a thing of darkness, the outline of a human being wrapped in a ethereal veil, not as much dark as absorbing the light around them. Taller than her, more massive, wrapped in shadows, but still, she could guess the being behind it, could sense its gaze focused on her.

She breathed deeply and steam came out of her mouth despite not sensing any cold on her skin. She couldn't hear the presence of her own monster, couldn't sense its strength. The thing that allowed her to walk unbothered into the darkest circles had abandoned her in front of this.

The irony.

 

*

  


Nothing surrounded her, piercing her with a thousand of needles and rummaging through who she had been without leaving anything. She had no weight, for her body was lost, there was nothing to see in front of her for the blackness was everything now. No noise, for there was no signs of life or voices to call her out.

Alone while the nothing became her everything.

Before claiming the last spark she had kept from the thing that haunted her, the last thing that truly belonged to her.

  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a slow start but you will soon get answers.  
> Hope you enjoy this chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What haunts the dark and lurks behind you?

The worst was the anticipation. Knowing the threat was coming and having to wait patiently, to face it efficiently. Once upon a time, the excitement took over Lucas, the call of the war flooding him and he had to be watched by his peers so he would not lose control.

He had grown older, and with age came restraint. The bloodlust still affected him but he has learnt how to contain it.

Duke and Silva weren't as calm. Silva, a tall and lean woman whose dark hair was tied into a ponytail, their expert in demolition, was holding her Sig Sauer, ready to leap at the signal. Duke, a medium size man with brown hair, was silently talking to himself, trying to calm down. He wasn't actually making a noise but Lucas had started reading his lips by force of habit until he looked away.

Lucas had asked for two volunteers for this mission, not because he doubted of his men's loyalty but because he needed them to be utterly ready to confront the remnant. Everyone of them was about to follow him, these brave fools, when he reminded them what they were about to face.

A soul-eater, something out of monsters' nightmare, a remnant. They couldn't be killed, they could hardly be stopped, and one has attached itself to some girl and they were wreaking havoc wherever they went. Every fear, every weakness, thrown at them to destroy them from the inside while the remnant would feed on them.

If he could have bypassed Mallory, he would have gone alone, because everyone in their line of work tended to get some weariness and nevrosis along the way. But his employer was right. They needed at least three people : if someone was hurt, one would carry them to safety while the other would cover for them. So Lucas had kept the only two with no particular adult fears to set the trap, evacuating the whole hospital wing except for the chambers of their bait and their mark.

Most people thought hunting the most dangerous game means hunting regular human beings. They had no idea how wrong they were.

They waited in the bathroom of Theodore Lewis' hospital room when he heard her coming, her step discreet but Lucas' ears were better than most. So he also heard her stop, hesitating, before entering willingly into the trap. A ward had been placed in the room by the resident nutjob that passed for a scientist in their cabal, Gillian. It would cancel the influences of the remnant and allow them to do their work.

Bait the remnant with its former prey because the predator would want to finish the job. And hide everyone of them with sigils, the tags they had all been wearing for days so they would not be seen or targeted. Concealed from the sense of the creature.

Silva and Duke were ready, holding their gun equipped with silencer, ready to fight for their life, and for Lewis', but Lucas waited, focusing on the words exchanged between the students.

Until silence hit him and lights started flickering. He rushed through the door, knowing his team would react almost immediately after him, a reaction time almost reduced to none for them but a little eternity for him.

Remnants couldn't be killed, couldn't be befriended but one could make a pact with them. And once the girl was dead, the pact would be broken and the creature would have no reason to torture anyone else.

Lucas felt its presence, cold biting at his heart, before he saw the dark mass looking like the reaper itself, looming over the students. Over Riley Weaver, so close to her that it looked like it was about to kiss her. He changed his aim without slowing down, the path of the bullet perfectly clear before he even shot.

Even with the silencer, the detonation rang loudly in his ears and the bullet reached the back of the remnant's head, then the window.

The thing didn't seemed to react then started turning around slowly. Fucking perfect.

That's why guns were useless against the supernatural. He let it go, grabbing the tactical knife at his belt, taking even more speed and spinning furiously. The blade, too short, too thin, still managed to cut from the shoulder to the hip in one clean move, meeting almost no resistance. The shadows scattered into countless wisps.

Duke and Silva were just starting to aim to cover for him. Too slow.

Lucas showed them his left fist before shaking it. Danger, be careful.

The girl fell very slowly, blatantly trying to remain standing and failing to do so. Pale as death, looking haggard and staring right through him. She was wearing a black tank top that let appear a bandage on her shoulder, red dots starting to form on the white, and traces of blood on her neck and jaw, where it had been badly wiped off.

He threw his hand, grabbing her shirt and maintained her standing and against the wall, ready to strike. Impatient to do so, to end the threat, but he forced himself to consider the situation.

Why would the remnant attack its partner when the prey was right here ?

« What have you done ? » he asked.

Dark blue and hungry eyes suddenly stared at him and Lucas tensed up, understanding his mistake.

The beast rose within him, its strength rushing violently through his veins while the world slowed down. Lucas dropped the kid, as she was not the priority anymore.

At no point had they predicted the presence of two remnants. And the ward on the room allowing to cancel its ability was designed for one abomination only.

Tendrils of shadows appeared between his men and him, starting to form the massive shape of the remnant, back to him, facing Silva and Duke.

« Fall back ! » he ordered, his fingers already reaching the tags around his neck and taking them off.

**See me, I am the better target. Leave them alone.**

None of them moved, and suddenly, the cold was everywhere, frost biting at them and Lucas's mind went blank for a moment. He emerged almost immediately from the fog to see the remnant holding his men in his almost skeletal hands, fingers on their throats. Duke was limp, Silva was looking into the void.

Lucas remembered what Gillian had said. Concealing has its limits. If you're hit, you're done.

Lucas remembered the Steward girl, the empty shell of a girl, devoured, her life over before it even started. He reached the other monster behind him, and she didn't react when he took momentum, raised her from the ground, and threw her.

The girl went airborne, rocketed through the room and rammed the remnant and his preys, interrupting whatever it was doing. They fell down in a undignified heap of contractors and immortal ghost, but no ominous crack was heard, so he considered it a victory.

Well, he was aiming for the door but that would have to be enough.

The cold didn't waver, and the remnant appeared before him, all in swirling shadows and hunger. Lucas bared his knife. He couldn't kill him but he could gain time.

He slashed and the thing slided, avoiding most of the attack.

A smile crept on Lucas' lips. Now, this would be interesting.

He felt his presence on him like a solid weight on his shoulders, peeling away the veneer of calm he was always affecting, leaving only the sheer joy of the fight instead. It was a dance of pure efficiency, like he was taught. They chased each other across the room, the remnant trying to touch him, to mark him as prey to feast on him, while Lucas slashed and cut, putting distance between the thing and his subordinates.

And the remnant let him, aware time was on its side, corrupting Lucas, snatching concentration little by little.

If it bled, it could die. But remnants didn't bleed and couldn't be killed. So they will just have to wait and see who would grow tired of this game first.

  


*

  


Asshole.

That was the first coherent thought that went through her mind, piercing the void. Anger always pierced through first.

And anger disappeared as well, leaving her empty.

She remembered this feeling of void, when her body wasn't her own anymore because the link was broken and she was left empty. Something stirred inside her, starting to push the numbness and she try to grab it, to use it, but it slept through her fingers.

**Alexia.**

Last time she felt like this was the last time Alexia was ever fine. Riley had been lost into this emptiness conjured by the storm of frost, but she had managed to grab what was left of her friend, the empty shell that hurt to look at, and she had crossed the blizzard while dragging her.

**Keep going.**

That's what she has learned in all those years. Keep going. There was nothing else to do.

So she did. She ordered her hand to move, just a little, and she felt the cold floor on her skin. She reached this perception, using her to anchor her into the real world. It was exhausting and unpleasant.

She endured. It was the only thing to do.

Her body didn't respond as it should have to, so she crawled, inch by inch. Slowly, for speed did not matter as long as she persisted.

Stopping meant losing. Allowing herself to stop fighting meant the awful circumstances that kept ruining her life would won, and she couldn't bear it.

She wouldn't let them win.

She had endured too much, fought too much to abandon now, because that would mean her pain, her struggle, would have been for nothing.

**Keep going.**

It took an eternity to reach the door. She didn't care, as long as she managed to do it. She pushed her body through the threshold and she felt the weightless pressure be lifted from her, trying to hook on until she was totally out before returning into the room.

The world became cold as the geist came to life, invading every shred of her being, the whispers roaring into her ears. She forced herself to sit leaning on the wall, right next to the threshold and the thing that smothered the dark thing inside her.

Her shoulder was pulsing with pain, result of its reckless use. She welcomed the pain, as it was a proof she was alive.

The cold spread outside her, searching for any source of warmth, to pull it to her so she could leave the void behind her, but finding nothing. Desperately watching out for her, and frantic in its failure.

The shadowman left the room almost right after her, also fleeing the trap that had been made for them. They looked at each other, attracted by their similarity, by the same cold that lived in them.

Riley saw something like her, the same hunger she had to deal with. An hunger focused on her at this very moment.

She smiled, the cold surrounding her, humming with anticipation.

As if she wasn't used to face starved things.

Lights went out for good as both of their wills rammed into each other, sending an impulsion rippling through the air. Something broke. Not the other geist, not her, but everything around them while nothing seemed to change.

And suddenly, the traces of heat were here and there, and she could feel more above and below her. The thing that attacked her tried to seize them but he was not as ravenous as Riley's geist. He didn't stand a chance. Her geist claimed it for itself and warmth bathed her, not enough to make her fine, but enough to make her dangerous again.

By the time she stood up, the thing was gone and irritation was settled, allowing her to ignore the hunger and to pretend she was invincible. She walked to the door where Teddy rested, where they had waited for her.

And she stopped right before, not keen at the idea of exposing herself again.

She left, breathing the memories that had soaked the walls, remnants of pain, fear, hope, left by the many patients that had walked on this wing.

By the time she reached the stairs, all of it was gone.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not fully satisfied with this chapter but I said what I wanted to say so this will have to be enough. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please tell me what you thought about it!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have crept into your heart. You can't make me disappear.

**Tuesday**

  


Riley didn't as much wake up as started to emerge slowly from hibernation. For a very brief moment, she considered getting up but her room was ice cold and her blankets were warm and perfect. She wrapped herself into her plaids, grabbed her pillows and hide her face with them.

She felt light, not exactly fine, but better. She hadn't slept so soundly in years, and she had forgotten how delicious real sleep could be. It was like finding a perfect peace after walking in a battlefield for too long.

Something crept into her fogged mind, but she did not wish to pay attention to anything so early in the morning. Until she finally noticed the cold and by that, she meant the total absence of warmth, and remembered the reason why she didn't sleep so deeply. Ever.

For Fuck's sake !

She jumped out of bed, half blind, her hair all over her face, and the geist clearly outside of her control, the dark presence having spread around, far beyond the walls of her tiny room and into her dorm. She could feel its influence, how it had absorbed every trace of spark, every thing that constantly proved that there was animation in this building, life. She felt the fire of the other girls, their lights even more contrasted with the influence of the geist.

That sneaky thing had avoided feeding directly on anyone, and therefore, didn't attract Riley's attention. She passed a hand over her face. A moment of distraction was enough for the damn thing to slip past her defenses and one day, it would be worse. One day, she would pass out from the weariness and it would do much more worse.

She sat on her bed, her hair pulled back and she breathed deeply, steam coming out of her mouth. She inhaled the cold and let it seep inside her lungs, remembering exactly the sensation to conjure it. The frost simmered, not wanting to withdraw, but she didn't let it a chance, bringing it back inside her heart, locking it inside her chest.

Geist was a good name for the hunger that lived within her. It was void, a ravenous emptiness clawing at her insides. She felt it swirling inside her, waiting for her to let it go again. Not even hurried anymore, just eager and impatient because it knew it would happen sooner or later.

She went to the bathroom she used to share with Alexia. The dorms she was living in were fairly recent, and there was one little bathroom for two rooms. At the time, she had planned to pretend she didn't have to share any of her space but Alexia had met her and adopted her as a friend before Riley had the time to do anything about it.

She turned on the light, closing her eyes not to be blinded, and she watched her reflection in the little mirror on the wall.

She winced.

She looked like hell. Her skin has taken an unhealthy ashen tint, the roots of her hair were greasy, and her dark eyes were underlined by inky circles. She looked like a raccoon without any of the cuteness.

The day before, another geist had almost eaten her. She remembered the helplessness while she was in its thrall. It was like falling in a dark well, unable to do anything to slower the fall, only able to gaze upon the light that was receding mercilessly, leaving her in the dark.

Thinking about it made her want to unleash the cold in her soul, to feist upon everyone and everything that dared to see her as a prey, to show them such an ire, such a madness that no one would ever dare to lay a hand on her. And the whispers roared along her dreams of blood and hedonism.

So she did not think about it, letting the cold eat at her emotions and leaving her stoic.

Instead, she checked her wounded shoulder. She knew something was off when she removed the bandage. She knew it before that, actually. The disregarded dressing let place to a large bruise on her skin and a round wound, red with coagulated blood but clean and looking healthy. She raised her arm, feeling some discomfort but not the sharp pain that had been submitted by the painkillers the day before.

She had been shot at very close point but the bullet had been stopped by the bone, leaving only a superficial wound. And now, after the geist spend the night feeding, the wound was closing. That meant there was more to the cold and the geist that some hunger that was ruining her life.

She couldn't help the beginning of a smile.

Another geist has tried to eat her. Which was pretty bleak, but she had survived it, had managed to claw her way back from the void.

That might mean this curse could be used to help Alexia.

Something bright bubbled in her chest, making her smile naturally for the first time since an eternity. There might be a way to help her friend !

She finally recognized this feeling. It was hope.

She was giving herself this day to heal. Then, she would look for answers.

  


*

  


About seven hours later, Riley's mood has greatly deteriorated. Her bag was not in the hospital anymore, or at least, it was not found even though she could only have left it in Teddy's room. Not only Teddy was not there anymore, but the wing was full of patients and her driver licence, her notebooks, her wallet, half of her life was lost. She still has her phone, always, some cash and a emergency credit card, but she needed the rest.

No, that wasn't right. Actually, the truth was she did not have the patience to deal with any others problems. She was tired, exhausted, had some answers to look for, she needed her stuffs.

The geist stirred inside her, reacting to her annoyance but she mercilessly hold it. What did he failed to understand in « no more problems » ?

Instead of calling a cab or an uber, she walked to the grocery store, two streets further. She needed some chocolate and her reserves were dangerously low. She had slept during the whole morning, as the class were called off, but she has spent an hour outside and she was tired again.

She was cursing herself for not taking the shoulder brace when some guy catcalled her. She ignored him, for she was seeking chocolate and nothing mattered much next to this noble goal.

« What a bitch, » the whistler said to his friend, who laughed.

She stopped, every fuck she gave running for their lives, leaving her only with cold anger. She turned around and came straight at him and his friends, who sat on a little concrete wall. They smiled, cocky and confident.

One of them hesitated when he saw her shoulder. Riley was wearing a top that revealed the white bandage she had badly made, showing she was injured. He looked at his two friends, and then he looked back, every trace of softness or compassion was gone, showing only bravado.

Good.

« Who said that ? »

They laughed again. No older than teenagers, but old enough to be held accountable.

She looked at them. She didn't say anything, didn't glare at them, she just looked until the weight of her gaze and the silence were too much.

« That must be me, » laughed the one at the far left. « Why, do you have a problem with it ? »

She smiled and doubt passed in his eyes. He didn't expect her to talk back to him, of course, and now, he didn't know how to react now that he realized he faced an actual human being.

« That depends of what you mean. A bitch is a female dog. That's it, that's the definition. »

« Good to know, lady. »

« So you told your friend I was a dog. Is it because you consider I don't have the right to walk on the street without waving my tail when you talk to me or is it because I didn't swoon when you whistled at me, denying for what you're surely entitled to : my attention ? »

One of them, the one who looked at his friends to take the cue, stood up but stayed away from her. Good instinct.

« Guys, come on, let's leave, » he called them.

The smile on Riley's lips and the warmth in her eyes disappeared as she looked at him, letting the otherness transpire through her mask.

« Sit down. You're not leaving until I have an answer, » she ordered, her voice deeper and furiously calm.

He did not sit, but stayed in place, puzzled by the abrupt change. Riley smiled again, and the cold entity was gone from her features, leaving only the girl that was quietly walking down the street just a few moments ago. As if by magic.

She ignored him and paid attention back to the charming young fellow whose jaw was locked.

« I know, I am not being fair, » she confessed, her voice light and pleasant again. « The truth is that I don't care about your answer. »

« I am sorry. I shouldn't have said that. »

His other friend looked at him, obviously surprised by the excuse while the kid started getting up.

Riley didn't bulge.

She should had let go when he apologized. Confrontation avoided, apology done, and everything was fine.

« Usually, I would have been happy about this. I may even have thought you were being sincere and not trying to avoid an awkward situation with an hysterical girl. But the truth is that I haven't felt anything for a long time. »

They weren't in a shadowed zone of the street, but as she stopped holding the cold in, the sunshine did not matter anymore, as if its warmth could not attain the three boys. The cold simmered, hovering around the bright lights and sweet heat of the teenagers.

« Except that I am tired. Tired of making efforts, of being nice and polite while I just want to tell people to leave me alone. Tired to work on my appearance, my attitude, my entire being sharpened to be a pleasant human being, for someone to whistle at me and trying to make me feel miserable for no reason. »

The sweet-talker tried to say something but the words stayed trapped in his throat as something he didn't understand, could not even comprehend, infiltrated inside him to cuddle to his warmth and claim it for itself.

So were his friends. Riley wasn't in the mood to show mercy.

« And the worse in that is that you don't suspect these efforts, since you do not provide them and take them for granted. I could let you in your blissfull ignorance for now but that won't last. Life will destroy you, one way or another. Dumb asshats do not survive for long. »

She could feel the warmth being slowly drawn to her, but there still was some resistance, something that tried to protect their core from her. She could have break through, their will against hers, and she would have won because that was the thing she had in abundance.

After all, she probably already did it.

But that would be so much effort and she has none to dispense. Instead, she wanted them to relapse, to forfeit.

« Let me show you how. »

She leaned toward them, her voice still hers but it had taken ancient intonations that didn't belong to her but to the geist. It didn't matter, for they talked with the same voice :

« Society has rules, cruel and harsh rules about how you interact with others. Half of what you have will be determined by how you act. And I am not impressed. So slowly, you will be set aside. People will not call you back, and that's when they won't simply ignore you. You will be alone among your people, half forgotten and completely invisible to their eyes. It's like being a ghost without actually dying first. »

Her words reached them, maybe the only real thing into the frozen world that had appeared around them. And for a second, they doubted.

The geist plunged into the breach.

  


*

  


Riley was only leaving her three new friends when her phone rang. She was about to ignore it when she saw the name on her screen. She stopped, looked behind her at the three men who did not move, and she started walking faster.

She was already half promised to Hell but if she dared to ignore him, she would go and would have a VIP spot in the bonfire. And she would deserve it.

She smiled because it could be heard in the voice.

« Hi, Dad, how are you ? »

Beat.

« My favorite daughter was shot by a maniac and refused to stay in the hospital where the doctors could intervene in a heartbeat if anything went wrong. And because she was worried about you, your mother didn't sleep this night so she decided that I shouldn't either, » he informed her dryly.

« Because of the for « better, for worse » part ? »

« That were her exact words. Other than that, everything is alright. »

From that, Riley deduced her father still wasn't especially pleased about her decision to go back to her dorm and sleep away the accident.

She had called him the night before in the Uber, because she didn't want them to learn it from someone else. At the time, she was almost fully under the influence of the geist, and thought that by saying she was only grazed by the bullet and wasn't seriously hurt, she could avoid them the worst.

Fool that she was.

« How are you, sweetheart ? » he asked more seriously, worry almost completely hidden from his voice.

« My shoulder doesn't hurt unless I touched the wound and press it. The only bother is that I am exhausted. »

« And how do you feel ? »

Nothing. She wasn't devoid of feelings but the links that connected them were severed, so she didn't quite manage to care about others or herself. Things like anger and satisfaction were easier to reach, but that was like seeing the world through a ice wall.

« I don't understand how that could happen. Yesterday, I was pissed off, but now, I want to understand how that could happen. This was a student in one of my class, you know ? He had friends, good grades, and... I don't know. »

« No one truly knows his neighbours, sweetheart. »

Well, she could hardly argue with that.

« You can't know what lies in someone's heart until he shows it to you. You couldn't not have prevented it, » he assured.

« I know. »

Maybe.

« Are you sure ? »

« Well, I am only human, am I not ? »

« Exactly. »

She talked with him until her Uber arrived, and she then promised to call him back today.

When she returned, she noticed again how quiet the campus was. Not like what happened in the hospital. People were there, but they spoke lower, unconsciously made sure not to make too much noise and not to move too harshly. As if the ghost of what happened had touched everyone of them and they acknowledged it in small ways.

They were all traumatized but they weren't feeling the full blow of it yet.

She entered the common room without making a noise and she went straight at the stairs.

« Hi! »

She almost jumped and turned around to see a man dressed in black, watching his phone while waiting on one of the ugly green chair of the room. She hasn't noticed him and she always noticed everyone's presence. She actually had to force herself to ignore people so she could sleep.

Her eyes saw him, but there was no heat, nothing to warn the geist. As if there was noone in front of her. But last night, he had almost stabbed her and definitely threw her across the room, so he certainly wasn't an illusion conjured by the stress.

And he was holding a brown leathered messenger bag.

« You forgot that yesterday, » he announced with a bright smile.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! I hope you still like the story so far!  
> And yes, for those who noticed, I am not sure of what to write in the summary.


	8. Chapter 8

 

« Riley, right ? You were Alexia's friend ? »

« I _am_ her friend, » she corrected automatically.

His eyes, a deep grey, narrowed and he stood up, still holding her bag by its strap.

« I would like to talk to you about what happened last night. I believe we can help each other. »

Riley looked around her. It was sunny enough for most of the girls to prefer to take their lunch outside but someone could come back in the common room at any time and she did not want anyone involved with this man. He was dangerous, that much was obvious.

« Not here, » she warned.

« That's not a problem. Can you drive ? »

« Yes. »

He touched the back pocket of his jeans and took a colorful plastic card out of it.

« There is a really nice chinese restaurant at twenty minutes from here, from what I've heard. My friend and I would like to discuss with you, at 5. »

Riley kept looking into his eyes, half amused and half impressed by how cold they were despite the courtesy he was showing. She took the card where an address and a phone number were printed. She was still weighing the odds of going to meet someone who almost killed her but since that man had managed to accidentally save her life both times she was involved in a near-lethal situation, she wasn't as worried as she was supposed to be.

« Fine. I also want some answers. »

He let her bag slide on the floor and nodded, before taking his sunglasses and leaving. He stopped just before reaching the door and looked at her.

« And Riley ? My friends and I really want to talk to you and try to find a solution. But if you're not here this evening, I will have to come back after dark, and none of us want that. »

Riley simply smiled.

  


*

  


_Something valuable, something she deeply cares about._

Jenna styled her hair with her fingers, nervous, before knocking on the door. She waited five seconds before she heard some noise behind the wooden frame, and three more before it was opened, revealing a young woman with big eyes that had become red. Chloe had cried.

« Hi, J. What are you doing here ? » she asked while not quite managing a smile.

She was wearing a sweatshirt too big for her. Her boyfriend's. She must have weighed between the comfort of what she was used to and what it now represented, and decided to still wear it.

« I wanted to see you, make sure you're holding on. »

At these words, Chloe managed to smile and Jenna hugged her. She felt the young woman relax in her arms, giving her the embrace back. There was power in one's touch, the certainty someone cared about you.

Chloe welcomed her inside the room, and saw Heather that was sitting on her own bed. Chloe's roommate and best friend's. They didn't particularly liked each other but there was no sign of animosity in her expression, only by softness.

« Hi, Jenna. Want something to drink ? »

« Sure ? »

She went and grabbed some cans from the minifridge, placed in a corner of the room. She watched her, pretending she didn't see Chloe's messy desk, where scholar furniture mingled with books, some candies and chips, and jewelry.

_Something valuable, something she deeply cares about._

Heather came back with three cans of Coke and they sat on the beds.

« How are you ? »Jenna asked. « Both of you, » she specified.

« Well, I don't complain, » Heather joked before gulping some of her beverage.

Chloe took the time to think about it, watching with intensity the cool can in her hands. For one, two, three, four seconds.

« Do you know this feeling when you fall flat on your ass ? » Chloe asked.

« Of course. »

« Well, I feel like I keep falling since I learned what Teddy did and the ground is nowhere in sight. »

« It wasn't your fault. No one saw it coming. And we don't know everything about what happened. »

Heather raised her arms, as if to thanks her for her words.

« Amen. I keep saying that. »

« I know enough, » Chloe barked.

She immediately looked like she felt guilty about raising her voice. Jenna didn't care. Actually, she liked it. If she could help her friend, she would gladly accept to be yelled at until Chloe felt better.

It was a luxury she could never afford but she owed her that.

« My boyfriend, the man I love, killed people, » Chloe said softly.

She grabbed a handful of her sweatshirt, a mix of rage and grief on her face.

_Something valuable, something she deeply cares about._

She didn't love this sweatshirt anymore. It was the gift of someone who betrayed her. That just wouldn't do.

Jenna felt sick just thinking about what she was about to do, why she came while pretending to want to help her friend. But the alternative was worse.

« Heather must have already told you something similar, but you are not alone. If you need anything, don't hesitate. I am serious. »

« Thank you. »

Unfortunately, this was an automatic answer. Chloe wouldn't ask anything.

_Something valuable, something she deeply cares about._

They talked a little more, Heather and Jenna taking turns to lift Chloe's spirit.

They hugged again when Jenna left. With a necklace with a diamond pendant in the pocket of her dress.

She was so nervous about being caught she felt nauseous as she left, careful to walk slowly.

There was eighteen stairs by floor and Chloe was at the third. Fifty-four stairs later, plus the two to get out, she was outside the building. She put her earpieces on and started a playlist. The site was at twenty minutes from here if she walked quickly, so five full songs, within a few seconds.

There was a big oak next to the third art building, absolutely enormous, the trunk dividing in five powerful branches. She started dreaming about it twenty six days ago, seven days after it began following her.

She found the wooden box next to the tree and put the necklace in it. Expensive, absolutely adored by Chloe, it was a worthy offering to the thing that kept pressing her. It crushed her, slowly, but never thoroughly. It was like being in the jaws of a gigantic beast, about to be devoured, but not yet. No hope to escape, no hope to end it, as she was trapped in the in-between.

The offerings were a way to ward it off. Always specific, and the next was always bigger. The first one was fifty bucks, placed here and the peace she had gotten was blissful. Then, it was more.

She had hesitated when it was time for the earrings, the gold ones, that her grandmother had offered her for her confirmation.

The beast has unleashed hell on her for three days, and she was crying when she dragged herself to the oak, begging it to forgive her.

  


*

  


The sun was too bright for Lucas' eyes after the sleepless night he had lived, even with his sunglasses. Well, the sunglasses he borrowed for a indefinite amount of time. Still, he took the time to appreciate the warmth of the sun on his skin, enjoying the sensation.

Sunlight was a cleaning force. There was a reason why people were scared of the dark, why they were on their guard at nightfall, and why they were relieved when they saw sunlight. They knew the dark things could not attain them so easily. An atavistic knowledge that came from ancient times and that everyone had on some instinctif level.

And Lucas was well placed to know instinct was closer to the surface for some of them.

He entered into the restaurant and a waitress came to meet him before he even finished to open the door. He declined any help with a polite smile, and went and meet the most obnoxious and trustworthy person he knew.

Mallory already sat at the table, looking at the menu. He wore a navy blue suit, his light brown hair were parted on the side and he looked well rested. While Lucas knew he couldn't have grabbed more than a couple of hours of sleep last night.

« Good afternoon, Lucas. I had to order Mitchell to sit on Gillian so she wouldn't come. »

« I am not even surprised. »

Only this nutjob could want to chat with a remnant. For science, she would say, and genuinely. Gillian was also the one who crafted the tags they were both wearing around their necks, hiding them from the remnant.

Not that it helped Duke and Silva, neutralized in ten seconds flat and still resting, while they were supposed to be his two most resistant agents. To be fair, they were counting on the ward, the field prepared to counter the manifestation of the remnant. It had worked beautifully for the first and refused to do the same thing for the second, the one who wasn't attached to any killable human being.

« By the way, I am not convinced by your idea, Mallory. »

The table was isolated, a courtesy certainly appreciated but the noises of the customers, the clatter of their discussions, the clang of the cutlery in the dishes, reverberated painfully in his ears. Consequences of the merrymaking of last night.

« We do not have the ressources to manage two remnants. »

« I noticed, » Lucas said drily. « But still. »

Mallory simply nodded.

The girl arrived early, ten minutes after him. There was a deeply disturbing way about how she interacted with others. She smiled at the staff, thanked them warmly when they indicated their table, and at no point did she show that she was hiding a monster that came straight from the Depths.

And it was here, with her. Lucas couldn't comprehend how she did it. Staying in a remnant presence for less than fifteen minutes had drained him and he had to take the whole night to gain balance again. Living constantly with such a thing would have slayed him.

She smiled at them, polite but no longer warm, and sat, back to the entrance.

« Good afternoon. What a lovely day, isn't it ? »

« Quite, » Mallory answered. « This month is warmer than it should be but we aren't going to complain. »

« Well, the seasons are offset and I am scared of a cold summer like last year. I don't mind warmer temperatures but I prefer them when I am not in class. »

« Of course. »

She thought she would still be there to enjoy summer. What an optimist.

« I am Mallory and this is my colleague, Lucas. Do you prefer ordering or should we start talking about business ? »

« If you could kindly tell me what the fuck is going on, it would be greatly appreciated »

Mallory raised his eyebrows and Lucas kept himself from smiling at his vexed face. His boss never swore and had told him many times that one should never swear in front of a lady.

« We want the accidents in this town to stop quickly and I think you can help us. »

« You're talking about Lewis. »

« And Owen Whitman, Celia Linetti, Sean Pierce and Max Adams. That we know about. »

Her eyes became uncertain.

« All in your college, and they all had breakdown, at one level or another, » Lucas said.

« When ?

« The first one was about two months ago. You are saying you didn't make the connection ? »

She thought about it, clearly disturbed.

« I didn't pay attention, » she finally admitted.

The waitress came to meet them with a charming smile, and Riley glanced behind her even though she couldn't have possibly seen her from where she was. She opened the menu in front of her, quickly looking at the dished, and closed it again.

Gillian would have a fit trying to find out what she could do.

« Did you choose ? » the waitress asked merrily with a voice a little to high for Lucas' comfort.

They did and ordered quickly, showing smiles and pleasant faces until she left. There was a time when he envied regular civilians like her, who never had to worry about monsters and things that ate people and reveled in their pain. But there was no going back from the truth.

Mallory intervened :

« Let's cut to the chase. There is another predator on your territory, it might even be stronger than you, and I don't think remnants appreciate competition. We are ready to help you get rid of it. »

« Remnant of what ? »

Mallory tilted his head, suddenly interested but hid it almost perfectly.

« A remnant. That's all. Do you not know the name of what you made a pact with ? »

« If you're talking about the dementor entity who is clinging to me, I never made a pact. »

What ?

The two men looked at each other. That was not possible. She wasn't a prey or she certainly couldn't have used the remnant as a personal enforcer, so she had to make a deal, a method widely used in their circles, and the only one that allowed some fool not to be devoured in a instant by a remnant.

If she was lying, what could she gain from it ? Present herself as a victim ? But she didn't seem the type.

« Then, how did it happen ? »

« Your guess is as good as mine. What do you want my help for ? »

« There is no reason for a remnant to target such a specific group of people. They aren't serial killers, they don't have preferences. That means someone is showing him who to make insane, who to track, and we need to find this contractor. Your help would be precious, and not only to bypass the remnant. »

She took the time to think, enough for the dishes to arrive.

There was no trace of the characteristic cold of the remnant. Lucas had expected it and was ready to stab their way outside this place at the first trace of frost, but the complete absence of warning signs was disturbing. The ones able to hide what they were had always been the more dangerous.

« I don't know if I trust you, » she said, « but if I can help avoid other senseless bloodshed, I will. However I want a few things. Answers about the remnants because you seem to know a lot about it. »

Actually, not so much and that's why everyone in the known was scared of them. They were their own category of plague. One did not affront a remnant, but ducked and hoped to survive.

Figures Mallory would ask him to kill two.

« Do not try to harm me. I don't react well when I am threatened. »

And by her, she meant the remnant who would lash out to protect her.

So that meant she would have to never see the attack coming.

« And I want you to search for a way to help Alexia, and if you find it, heal her. »

Lucas knew Mallory would accept that last one because he has asked Gillian and a whole team of healers to help the remnant's victims.

It was interesting to see how attached Riley still was to the Steward girl. Lucas wondered if there was something more than friendship between them. Something that made Riley mad enough to destroy her dear friend and everyone around her.

« I can't guarantee a cure for your friend, but I will try. If you accept, we have a deal, » Mallory declared.

« So be it. »

They ate, in silence for Lucas, and while they exchanged pleasantries, for Mallory and the kid.

By the time they regained their respective cars, Lucas wanted to make things clear.

« I can't kill a remnant. »

« I understand, Lucas. It would be like trying to kill a hurricane. So Riley's remnant will keep the other one busy while you take care of the contractor. I am sorry to ask you that but you're the only one who can hope to resist it long enough. »

« You don't have to apologize. But what if Riley is the one who decided to make her friends crazy because she is a lunatic ? »

Mallory shrugged.

« After the first remnant is killed, when she is weakened. That will be your opportunity. »

  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need a specific set of mind to write this fic because it's a dark story. So of course, for a week, the sun has shone brightly in the sky, the temperatures are worthy of August, and everything is fine. The weather isn't cooperating!
> 
> Thank you for reading this story, and if you liked it, please, make me know. :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am looking for you.

 

**Thirsday**

  


The wake organized by the Dean brought together almost every student of the college, every teacher and a crowd of journalists and policemen. People who came here to pay their respect, people who came there to witness it, and people whose role was to assure there would be no need to have another ceremony.

Riley had no problem walking through the crowd, as space was made instinctively around her. A cold that didn't belong here followed her, caressing the people around her, just to let know it was here. A shiver ran along their spine, the world went greyer by the second, and the sensation was gone, maybe even a trick of the mind, while the young woman carried on. She was hunting in broad daylight, letting the cold roam while watching it, like a distrusful parent ready to intervene.

The world has changed, the truth now carved in her soul. People were full of light and shadow, heat and cold at different scales. She could taste it on her lips, feel it in her bones, sing along its tune. The heat released by all of them came to her, attracted by her very nature, and was absorbed.

But that wasn't what she was looking for, just a nice plus that she feigned not to enjoy. Instead, she searched for some burning presence, the victims of the remnant. Another Teddy, but before everything was over for him.

She felt like she was a shadow walking in a sea of lights, trying to find the shiniest ones. And for now, she was failing.

Warm, warm, warmer, warm, less warm, less warm, warm, warmer, warm, warm, warmer. _All this deliciousness at her fingertips_ and the geist kicking and screaming because she kept it from feeding fully.

Riley glimpsed someone moving through the crowd and she felt the weight of sharp eyes gazing at her. Lucas was following her, not hiding, a warning presence at her back.

She threw her perception around, trying to find the pockets of void that personified the four members of Lucas' team. They were the real ghosts here, phantoms that watched over her and she hadn't noticed how dependent she was to her strange senses. But trying to find what wasn't there was too difficult for now and they stayed hidden.

Someone bumped into her, a woman with chestnut hair almost as long as hers. She apologized with a smile and carried on, walking fast, so Riley did the same.

The lights were blending together, making the effort to tell them apart exhausting and there was simply too much people. With that and the pressure of the geist trying to overcome her concentration, this whole walk felt useless and too much taxing.

« And for that, I ask you to be strong. Our hearts and prayers go to the victims of this terrible tragedy, » the Dean concluded.

« Riley, did you find anything ? » asked Silva.

She stopped herself from touching her earpiece. She wasn't fond of voices in her head, even the one of a seemingly very nice person.

« No. I can't say if they are not here or if I can't find them.»

« It's ok, at least we tried. »

« Thank you. »

Riley stopped walking when the students and the other spectators started to leave, the only unmoving thing among the human currents. Lucas more or less appeared beside her, like a freaking ninja in a leather jacket, and walked next to her. She called the cold back inside herself but he didn't seem to notice the difference.

« End of the speech, » he announced and Riley heard him near her and inside her ear at the same time. « We are leaving. »

He cut off the connection and looked at her, unimpressed.

« Well, that was an impressive waste of time. »

Lucas had a strange voice. It barely seemed to belong to him. Too deep, too raspy, it just felt wrong.

« How interesting. It's what I said when Mallory proposed this idea. »

« I suppose you don't see a link between the victims, apart from their popularity ? »

All loved, all liked, and a pleasure to be with. Riley immediately made the connection with Alexia. A geist would be attracted to this type of people like a moth to a flame, it was just too beautiful to ignore.

« No and that will be difficult. We are all in each other courses. »

Lucas glared at her like she was personally responsible for this custom.

« Don't you have enough work without strolling around ? »

« Nope. My best friend used to go to all these classes to test what she wanted to do or just to have fun. Photography, cinema, sociology and most of the professors don't care as long as we don't disrupt their class and if there is enough opening. »

Lucas rolled his eyes so hard he might have glimpsed at the pearly gates in Heaven. They finally managed to get out of the human traffic jam and Riley felt better.

Walking was getting difficult now that she wasn't letting the cold do its work. People were aggregated, moving in one direction and leaving would be more troublesome than following the flow and walking more after they left it.

« I will ask someone to look over all the datas, » he said before reaching for his phone.

« What will happen to Teddy ? »

Lucas turned toward her, seeming surprised by the question. He let his arm fall down, the phone still in his hand. She thought he would text while talking to her but maybe men really could to do one thing at the time.

« Mallory is trying to make the court rule him as insane to avoid the death penalty, » he informed her. « But the public opinion wants his head so this is going to be difficult. »

« So jail for life ? Because the muggles can't see dementors ? »

« He killed people. He brought a weapon, and shot students while they were fleeing. Do you think he can be so easily forgiven ? »

That made her pause for a moment and she looked at him, making sure she made eye contact. He did the same, an eyebrow raised as if he was challenging her to say he was wrong.

But of course, she knew Teddy couldn't be forgiven. She just couldn't bear Lucas' nonchalance, as if it was just a psycho who had gone wacko. There was a story behind it and nobody cared.

« Do you want to know what it's like ? To be influenced by a remnant ? » she asked.

« Yes, I had the dubious pleasure to meet one, » he informed her.

« For how long ? An hour ? Less ? I am talking about years, except you don't need that long to sink. At first, you feel cold. It's a manifestation of a feeling you can't quite comprehend, for you feel threatened, you feel in danger, you feel hurt but the pain didn't manifest yet. Then, when the remnant is hooked, you feel anguish : distress in his rawest form. And nothing else, because your emotions, what makes you a person have already been devoured. »

The parking was in sight. She looked around, under Lucas' puzzled expression.

« Which one is your car ? » she asked.

« Keep walking, I couldn't find a spot near the ceremony. »

« Too bad. So yes, all you have is void. You ask yourself if it's a bad day, a bad week, depression, then you stop asking questions because you don't have the strength to spare. Living hurts except even pain was robbed from you. That's what it's like. »

« Are we still talking about Lewis ? »

« Who else ? I find this unfair and an amazing waste. If this wasn't something straight from a Supernatural episode, he would have extenuating circumstances. »

« I understand what is bothering you but even if he were released tomorrow, he took the decision. He killed. It will leave a trace that will be with him forever. He is not blameless and treating him as such can also do harm. »

Riley was far from convinced but she didn't have anything to say back. Lucas had listened to her and that would have to be enough.

Lucas paused in front of a silver car, a beautiful one, made for speed and nothing else, and leaned on it.

« Did you ever thought about taking a gun and going on a killing spray ? » he asked.

« Not my type. »

« Neither did the other other victims we know about. Why was Lewis different ?

She tried to convey with her eyes that rhetorical questions were the dumbest thing to use in a conversation.

« Why not ask him ? » he asked with a smile so cold he could rival her's. « And if we can know when he started feeling the dementor's effect, it will be useful to find the link. Because looking through two months of possible comings and goings will be a nightmare and I hate searching. »

« You're an investigator... who hates searching ? »

« Why do you think I have a team ? I have to get something but be ready for 3 P.M, we are going to visit Lewis. Wear something that makes you looks older if you can. »

Riley left and she walked back to her place, taking her time.

She was having second thoughts about this alliance.

There wasn't enough progress and holidays were friday, saturday for the unlucky ones. That meant the suspect would be gone for all the duration of Spring Break. Worse, she didn't have the feeling of helping at all. The geist was useless to track down its sibling and her contribution didn't seem to do much good.

And she had met Lucas' team. Very cordial, utterly professional and none of them could lie with their eyes. She had seen distrust, and blatant hostility for one of them.

This was one of the main reason why she hadn't talked to anyone about her condition. Even if someone believed her, it would prove she was different and people feared what they didn't understand. And if they understood, they would fear her more.

There was no point in crying over spilled milk but that kind of reminder was still unpleasant.

She reached her room and let herself fall on her bed, who cracked loudly to notify she wasn't a sylphide. She ignored it and reached her pocket to take her phone.

She was surprised to find some card with it. A white business card with a number typed on it and nothing else. Puzzled, she looked at it, not recognizing it and not understanding how it could have appeared in her pocket without her noticing.

She sat on her bed, and called the number, half expecting to hear the whispers of her geist at the end of the line.

« Echo, » answered a voice she did not recognize instead. « Riley, is that you ? » she asked as the student was trying to understand what was happening and if calling was a good idea. « I am sorry to contact you like this but I didn't want Lucas to take part in this conversation. »

The woman had a really deep voice, tranquil and full of quiet confidence.

« I have your card but I don't know who you are. »

« You can call me Echo. That's my work alias because names have powers in my world, and you, my friend, are powerful. I could give you a fake name but I think this collaboration would be smoother if we don't lie to each other too much. »

« But you know mine. »

« Don't worry about your name, you have a ferocious guardian. But you should probably worry about your associates. You do know they plan to kill you once they have what they want, right ? »

  


*

  


By 3:04 p.m, Lucas was waiting for her in his beautiful car, a Audi A8 as Internet had confirmed to her, and was wearing a bespoke black suit and sunglasses. By the open window, he looked at her and said : « Are you playing dress up at being an adult ? »

Which was just quite a rude thing to say to a girl that had carefully thought about what to wear without any idea of where she was headed.

« I don't want to hear that from a man with a bad case of baby face. »

He glared at her and she smiled back because it tended to make people more upset than plebeians dirty looks. She got around the car and opened the door before sitting in the passenger seat and she almost lost an eye because she hasn't seen him stretch out his arm to give her some card. That must have been the day.

As far as she was concerned, there was no one next to her. No warmth, no light, nothing to take. Not even Alexia was so invisible for her and that was just wrong.

She took the ID and examined it while they left the street.

« Who is Sophia Gregson and why do I have her card ? »

« It's your card, because you're now a consultant for the FBI. Congratulations. »

He reached something in his jacket and showed her a badge while still looking at the road.

« Agent Lucas Blake. Nice to meet you. More or less. And before you ask, no, we are not affiliated to the FBI. »

« Actually, I was going to ask while the photo on my card doesn't match my face while you have an awesome badge. »

« It's close enough. »

Riley prayed that whoever was guarding the prison would agree because she didn't have the charisma to soothe angry feds. And if anything went wrong, Lucas would probably leave her for dead.

They had two hours before reaching jail and their interview with Teddy Lewis. Maybe less since Lucas didn't seem to take speed limitations seriously. What a wonderful occasion to have some answers.

« What are remnants ? » asked Riley.

« We don't know much about them. »

She waited for more but he didn't seem concerned about it.

« You do know that the more you're trying to change subject and the more it strains this deal, right ? What are remnants ? » she repeated.

« Why don't you bother Mallory with these questions ? You have his number, don't you ? »

She went quiet.

Something old and famished. That's what Mallory had said and she had been speechless because she already knew that, thank you very much. Mallory had also talked about about all the victims, how everyone of them had some erratic comportement they couldn't explain and some lasting symptoms of something worse. He had talked about possible solutions to help them, maybe of different treatments for different people and had even admitted he had them moved away from college so the remnant wouldn't find them and keep making damages.

And when she had left, full of new answers, she had noticed how he had carefully avoided to explain much about remnants and their organization, despite her questions.

She looked by the window, thinking about how good Mallory was. That was some misdirection at its finest and if she wanted answers, she couldn't afford to trust them. Not when there was clearly no reciprocity.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Lucas touching the radio. He kept changing the stations until he turned the volume down.

« Monsters exist, » he finally said. « As far as we know, most of them appeared by making a pact with something else, they gave something and something else was offered in exchange, changing them forever. And that didn't end with them, it passed in the bloodlines, changing generations. Fortunately, it seems to dissolve with time. »

He wasn't looking at her, and it wasn't because he was focusing on the road.

« Now, let's talk about this ''something else''. There are places where concepts you can't imagine live, places of darkness and unknown. They are called the Depths. »

There was reverence in the way he pronounced this last word. Some fearful respect, a caution born of awe.

« I don't like to talk about that and Mallory would explain better. But whatever created the remnants ? It came from deep down. Forgotten gods, spirits from another time that immigrated here, everyone has a theory but no one is sure. The consensus is that they are ghost of the first people who made pacts, and even death wasn't enough to keep them down. They hunger for life itself, because they have lost it so long ago the notion is slipping through their fingers. That's what Mallory thinks, and that's the angle Gillian is working on to try to understand them. »

"

Her head tilted toward him like some demented owl. She didn't like the sound of this.

Lucas continued, blind to her fears, or at least ignoring them.

« But that's not important. The important part is they are wandering while there is no way to kill them for good. And they leave broken people in their wake. »

He finally looked at her.

« But you already know that, aren't you ? You were at the gaz station. »

« I was. »

There was something deeply unsettling in the way Lucas looked at her.

For everyone, Riley was a student, a loner, a daughter, a friend, a stranger. And sometimes, when the mask slipped, a monster. Lucas saw her as someone dangerous and felt no fear about it. That was the first time she faced such a reaction. It didn't scare her, but it made her still and careful.

« Your turn to answer a question. What happened ? »

« I don't know. »

« Your lack of cooperation is starting to put a strain on our deal, you know ? »

She hated this guy.

« I was inside the station while Alexia was filling the tank and... I don't know. I can tell you that there was a moment where I felt horrible. I felt like I was going to die. And that's when it became blurry. My next real memory was when the help came. »

Lucas looked at her.

« You said you don't remember what happened with Alexia and I don't think you're lying. I still think you know what caused the carnage. »

She didn't say anything.

« Something this crazy happens and you spend the next three months carefully not looking for answers and sitting on your ass. So I think you have a pretty good idea of what went down, » he finished.

Riley didn't show anything and they watched each other, carefully.

Lucas was the first to look away and focused on the road, and Riley became absorbed by the scenery afterwards.

She let the hunger come closer to the surface. She hold it carefully, keeping it from roaring to life, making sure she wasn't overwhelmed.

And she listened.

_Not far. You know he's not far. You just have to find him._

But still, she couldn't find him. She couldn't taste the light of his life, couldn't see the pulse of his warmth. Such a state was wrong and disturbing.

Well, _they_ had this whole trip to fix that.

  


 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's nice here. Maybe things can change for the better.

The atmosphere had hit Riley in the guts as soon as she had entered the carceral building. The geist had risen inside her, trying to welcome all of it, all of the delicious tension and buzzing warmth whose rhythm she could feel in her bones and dancing in her veins.

Lucas glanced at her, and raised an eyebrow :

« That must mean this is a remnant friendly zone. »

She immediately went back to reality and to the room assigned to them for their interrogation. She wasn't supposed to be distracted in front of Special Agent Lucas Blake, although she doubted of the veracity of his title since she has recently been promoted to Consultant Sophia Gregson.

« You have this dreamy look on your eyes. Quite disturbing, » he admitted.

« I don't want to hear that from you. »

She had spent an hour and half searching for any sign that this man was actually a living human being and she had failed miserably. She knew she had to look for the void, define the outlines of what wasn't here, but each time she tried, she lost it. It was maddening because it was just out of reach.

The experience had left her with a beautiful headache as a reminder and the atmosphere helped to ease the pain.

« Where did you go ? Just now ? » Lucas asked.

She didn't go anywhere. She stayed where she was while the world revealed itself to her, and in this case, she could sense the layers of glorious and golden warmth accumulated on the walls of the prison. She didn't have to make any effort to call it to her, she was breathing the built-up of frustration, misery and violence.

If this building ever ceased to be a prison, they would have to burn the thing to the ground because this wouldn't go away.

« Right here with you, » she smiled. « Where else would I go ? »

« J'ai rarement entendu de telles conneries dans une seule phrase. »

(I rarely heard so much bullshit in one sentence.)

« Reste dans le coin et j'arrangerais ça, » she retorted.

(Hang around and I will take care of that.)

He looked amused. His French was better than her's but she knew enough to recognize insults.

« Je suis navré de t'avoir offensé et j'ose espérer que je saurais faire pire à l'avenir, » he claimed.

(I am an idiot who's using complicated words to throw you off.)

They were about to exchange other pleasantries when the guards brought Teddy Lewis in chains, so they pretended they were professionals.

In the hospital, Teddy had looked sick and about to die from exhaustion. Now, he looked like something hollow that vaguely looked like Teddy Lewis. Same features, same body type, same colors, but nothing was the same. The burning presence was gone, replaced by a fire, _still bright, but that seemed about to be snuffed out any second from now._

She kept looking at him, perplexed. He still has warmth but the usual resistance everyone had was almost intangible, wasn't offering more resistance than spider webs. She could have taken everything from him without making any effort. Maybe without warning Lucas.

_Wouldn't that be fun to try ?_

Teddy looked at both of them, and his gaze stopped on her for a moment but he showed no sign of recognition.

Riley wasn't looking like herself right now, she was looking like Sophia. Her hair was tied in a French braid, her face had make-up, and she was wearing the glasses that appeared on her nose once every blue moon. She had, regretfully, abandoned her tee-shirt and jeans, for dark blue slacks and a white blouse. And mocassins. She had thought about high heels but since a few days, she loved being able to run like hell with decent shoes. Just in case.

« My lawyer said I could talk with you but I have nothing to say, » Teddy said.

Moreover, her geist was recently fed and so tranquil compared to what it had been when Teddy had met her. The mask was back in place and Riley was fully hiding behind it.

« We want to know more about what happened, » Lucas said. « You said something made you do it. I want details. »

Teddy ignored her and looked straight into Lucas' gaze :

« I was high, I didn't know what I was saying, » he enunciated clearly as if he wanted the words to engrave in their minds so he could have some peace.

Unfortunately for him, Lucas didn't seem inclined to make it happen.

« Then why did you shoot ? Why did you even bring a weapon ? You had it for some time, didn't you ? »

« I had some kind of break down. That's just it. I had some kind of burn out, a psychotic episode, and people died because of it. »

The former student breathed deeply, trying to calm down but he was clearly losing patience. And as he did, Riley could sense what was left of his energy leaking in the air.

« Don't you understand ? I can't give you the answers you're looking for because I don't have them. Now, leave me alone. »

Lucas took his sunglasses off, and looked at him. Not hostile or anything, his expression was impassible.

And everything changed. He didn't move, didn't change, but everything else did and Riley could sense something bigger than the man next to her, more savage, something animal that wanted to hunt and would know how to savor the rush.

I want to kill you, said the atmosphere around Lucas, but I won't because there are rules. You don't have to understand them, you just have to know that I exist, that they exist, even though you can't explain that.

« Most things can't be explained. There is a whole other side to stories, the side you don't talk about, because you're ashamed of what will people think. And you're right to protect yourself, everything was taken from you and you're trying to control the damages. But take my word on it, there is no one more able to understand this truth you're trying to hide. »

Teddy gulped, and Riley knew he was about to cry, she could feel the pressure trying to ease off, and she kept the geist from moving, the cold to rise, because that seemed disrespectful. His pain wasn't a way to ease off her hunger. It was just pain, and even if she couldn't feel it anymore, she should respect it.

« I thought it was just stress. Six weeks ago, maybe, I had some bad days, and everyone was there for me. Chloe, Sam, Justin... But they were worried, and they didn't understand at the same time, so I told them I was fine. »

Riley was getting more uncomfortable by the second.

« It was like something was following me around, always, whispering horrible things into my head. Not words, but just pain and ache. I couldn't only find peace in my dreams, and then he found me there too. Except that I could hear what it was saying. »

Lucas looked at her but she slightly shook her head. Her nights were devoid of dreams.

« I tried to talk to Chloe, you know ? I tried once and he hit me like a freight train. I was just so full of bad, and when I stopped screwing around, everything was better. I could feel it, how he was satisfied with me. And I would do anything to be on his good side. »

He thought about it for a moment.

« He prepared me, I think. Or maybe I am insane and you're listening to a variant to ''The Devil made me do it.'' But I know he appeared to me, night after night, this idea of expelling the harm and the bad and the evil by inflicting it to someone else. Violence as a cure. I started dreaming about guns, knife, so much. That one, I don't know if that was me or him, I just knew this was getting worse. »

He left his recollections and he focused on them once again.

« What else do you want to know ?

« When did you actually take the decision ? » Lucas asked.

« In the classroom. »

« Did it tell you to do it ? »

« Not exactly. He wanted for me to give him something, to express my devotion. At the time, I didn't care. When I did it, I couldn't care any less about them. There were just a way to an end, and now, I am in prison, and it's gone. »

« Now that it stopped harassing you, do you think this was worth it ? » asked Lucas, seeming actually curious about it.

Teddy didn't hesitate.

« No, » he admitted quietly.

They left after that. There wasn't much clue here, just a broken man and maybe what was waiting for Riley.

Lucas waited until they left the establishment to talk again.

« Can you do that ? Push someone to do something ? »

« No. This doesn't work like that, or there is something I still haven't figured out. »

She wasn't liking this idea and neither was Lucas if his expression could be trusted.

« Then, do you think Lewis is lying ? »

That was a good question. Her instinct screamed no. There was another geist... remnant. There was no doubt about it. But could it force someone to act specifically ? »

« He was seriously chewed, but carefully. A remnant will try to take everything from his prey but Teddy still has a lot. The remnant didn't have to flare him to have a good meal, so it must have been for something else.

« So either the remnant chose someone mentally disturbed, either it was a wanted influence. That started less than two months ago. What was the point ? »

« Feeding, » she answered automatically. « It created so much energy on the campus a remnant would hardly need to hunt. »

She could attest to that.

He gave her a dubious look.

« You don't seem worried about giving me this kind of details. »

« I know what I am. »

« And it doesn't worry you that I know what you are ? »

« Not really. I don't think you can hurt me. And even if you managed to kill me, I don't think you would survive. »

« Really ? » Lucas smiled without any ounce of sympathy.

_Another thing fun to try ?_

They stared at each other, right in front of the car, Lucas with his pleasant smile and Riley with her as neutral expression. The air between them crackled as something more and invisible was freed, presences usually hidden showing their teeth.

A beast. That's what she sensed, an enormous beast, a pure predator whose bloodlust filled the air. Not famished like her geist, it just wanted to kill, kill, and kill, until there was nothing breathing in sight.

There was no shame to exploit here, no insecurities, just fury and power. There was something pure about it, a clean rawness. He wouldn't freeze if the cold ate at him, he would attack until one of them was dead.

She didn't know if she could protect herself in an all out-fight with him, but at no point was she scared. Cautious, more than before, but not scared.

Her phone rang once and she grabbed it and glanced at the name on her screen. She immediately hanged up. By the time she looked up, the terrible presence was gone and Lucas was back behind the wheel. She followed him, not sure about what to do. Was there a protocol about what to do after wordless threats ?

Lucas ignored her and she did the same.

Riley hesitated for a time, her cellphone still in her hand as she was playing with it. She didn't want to volunteer any information that didn't belong to her to Lucas but she didn't like not knowing why she was called. Everyone who had her number knew she never called, and wasn't keen on small talk, so when someone actually called, it was for something important. She started typing.

_**I am sorry but I cannot talk right now. I can call you back later or keep writing.** _

Rachel Steward answered quickly.

_**It's important. It's about Alexia.** _

She typed so fast she has to remake her text because the keyboard didn't have to time to register every letter.

_**Did something happen ?** _

Apart from the obvious ? The horrible, obvious, and still unknown thing that happened to her ?

_**Yes. Nothing bad. You should come and see for yourself, it's difficult to explain.** _

Lucas' phone beeped, his car bluetooth asking if he wanted to take the call. He glanced at her, did something and the bluetooth stop so he could take his cellphone. Riley winced when he raised it to his ear. This was dangerous.

« Lucas. »

He paused for a moment as someone was talking.

« No, it makes sense, I am the closest. Text her back to tell her I will be there shortly... »

He glanced at her.

_**I am out of town but I will call you as soon as I am back.** _

« It shouldn't be a problem, » he finished before hanging up. « I have to pick up someone, it shouldn't be long. »

« Sure, » she answered, distracted.

The Audi roared as it sped up and Riley raised her feet, letting herself feel every bit of speed like when she was a little girl and her mother's driving was a cheap rollercoaster just for her. They kept getting faster and faster, and by the time Riley started to worry, she didn't dare to talk so she wouldn't distract him.

They left the highway and slowed down as they were headed to a gaz station. Lucas parked near a tray of trees and asked her to stay here, for he wouldn't be long. She told him she would wait by the car.

Once he left, Riley resisted the urge to call Rachel back. There was nothing to do until she saw Alexia, and pestering her mother would do nothing good.

She didn't want any more problems. The cold wasn't as harsh, leaving her in peace after it fed on the chaos of these last few days, but it was still worked up, ready to surge. She knew she needed quiet to find balance again, but she had a job to do so that would have to wait.

She wanted Alexia back. She missed the sound of her laugh, her bad buns, and her horrible sweaters. She wanted her friend at her side, her anchor that had helped her through her dark days. And she wanted to be a better friend, to prove this wasn't a one-sided friendship where she was only taking. She could be better, she knew she could.

_Behind you._

Riley turned around as someone was watching her. Something.

She stood still as the predator watched her, crouched down in the shadows of the car. Sharp green eyes glittered as the sunlight touched them, a lean body covered in grey fur that did a bad job of hiding the muscles underneath. It looked ready to jump.

Every fiber of Riley's being was focused on it. She manage not to do any sudden move as she crouched down. But she didn't quite manage not to squee.

The cat looked at her, clearly distrustful.

« Hello, you. »

The cat stayed where it was. She started approaching, slowly.

She liked animals but it was absolutly not reciprocal. She could fool any human beings, but animals always knew she wasn't what she appeared to be.

She continued, careful to fully draw the cold within herself. Just a normal cat lover, nothing supernatural to see here.

Because sometimes, they didn't mind her.

The cat fled.

She rose, and went and leaned on the beautiful car, heartbroken. She checked around to make sure Lucas couldn't see her, and of course, he got out of the store at this very moment. A woman followed him. Thirty-five years old maybe, she was dressed more or less like Riley but also had a scarf, and she was holding the hand of a little girl that looked at the ground. She could clearly feel the two of them from where she was, warm presence, akin to the flame of a firepit. More that what she was used to but it wasn't the burning presence she linked to Teddy.

The woman has a very dignified way to move, as she was standing straight, with a stately bearing. Riley recognized this careful way of moving and she hoped that wasn't what she was thinking.

Riley felt a third. She turned around, in time to see a man coming from across the parking, straight at them.

« Amanda ? » he called.

The woman flinched and got brighter.

She walked toward them.

  


*

  


Lucas smelled the blood as soon as he entered inside the store. Dry, but still distinctive and he was unable to miss it.

A woman was paying at the checkout, a smile that didn't reach her eyes on her face. Lucas wouldn't be happy either if he was in enough pain to stand so stiff, careful not to make any unnecessary movements. A little girl was waiting nearby, a Wonder Woman bag on her back, and she was reading a comic. She was so small it didn't feel real.

The woman raised her head and saw him, recognition flashing in her eyes. No animosity, no weapon in sight, and she wasn't in good shape, at least not enough to pick a fight with him. It wouldn't be the first time a call for help was actually a trap.

But it wasn't that. He was facing an injured person who had called his cabal for help because police couldn't help her.

She took her change and walked toward him while he waited for her.

« Are you Lucas ? »

« I am. »

She hesitated. She surely didn't think they would intervene so fast or that they would send him.

We are here to protect, Mallory would say. That's why Lucas let him talk.

« I am here to help, » he said instead. « My car is near-by. I can take you to the Boston headquarters, and find you help and accommodations. Also someone to talk to. »

He didn't exactly know what to say or to do to make things better, but that didn't matter for now. He could take her safely to people who would know what to do, and that's what she needed now.

She breathed deeply and touched her scarf before pulling it down, revealing a bruise. Blue, so relatively new.

Something ugly stirred inside Lucas.

**Patience.**

« My name is Amanda and my husband respects the old ways. »

The old ways were the rules people like Lucas used to respect to live in parallel society, people born in this madness few suspected. When family has to fight to survive, to avoid being devoured by their neighbours, and when they were hoarding power like a dragon amassing its gold.

Of course, nothing there said a man could raise a hand on his wife.

Lucas could also respect the old ways, when might was right and the powerful were the only one worthy to make the rules.

« He is strong, » she warned him.

« He isn't stronger than me. »

Few were and that was why Mallory has sought him. He wanted to create something to protect those who had enough power to be dragged into a terribly violent world, to be noticed by the powers that be, but not enough to protect themselves.

« Mathilda, we're leaving, » Amanda called.

The dark-haired little girl carefully put the comic back in place and rushed to her mother's side, careful not to look at him directly.

« Samuel is filling the tank and waiting for us. »

« Wait here. I will talk to him, make him go away, and we will go then. »

Leaving him the time to talk to Riley and to subtly threatened her if she thought about touching one of them. Just to be safe.

« No. »

Amanda hasn't raised her voice but there was no mistake in her tone : she wouldn't bulge on that point.

« Please, I don't want to be left alone here. He respects powerful men. If he sees you, that should be enough to keep him calm. We used to live in New York before moving here, and we saw you with Mr Mallory. He will recognize you. »

Lucas seriously doubted that a domestic abuser would accept to see his wife and his daughter walk out on him and he didn't want to hit the father if the daughter was in sight. Children should be protected.

However, Amanda knew more about his character and she was in charge of protecting her daughter.

« We will try that but if I tell you to leave and wait in my car, you will do it. »

« We won't need to. »

Lucas didn't wince but that was close. Of course. She had to be optimistic and ruin every chance of leaving peacefully.

« Say you will do it, please. »

« We will. »

They left quickly as Lucas was scanning the parking, searching for a white men with dark hair if his daughter was any indication.

A man who fitted this exact description rushed toward them, circling the station to reach them.

« Amanda ? » he called.

Not an ounce of anger here.

They kept going.

« Amanda ! » he yelled.

Here it was. The beginning of white hot fury. It didn't take long.

« Go to my car. Silver, near the trees, you can't miss it. »

Amanda hesitated before walking faster, almost dragging her daughter behind her as the child had trouble keeping the pace, and Lucas stood between them, watching calmy Samuel.

Average height, average weight, average size and average man. He didn't move like a fighter but like someone heavy and something with him screamed tension. He slowed down when he saw Lucas not moving, just standing there like he didn't have a care in the world.

The point wasn't to kill him but to resolve the situation peacefully so no one was hurt. It wasn't Lucas' strong point, far from it, but as long as he didn't feel in danger, he didn't have to control the urge to fight back with all his strength.

Samuel's eyes narrowed as he recognized him and he nervously smiled at him, anger gone.

« Good afternoon. Is there a problem ? »

« I am working with Mallory and your wife asked for our help. She is leaving with me and you won't try to stop us. »

« I know who you are, Mr Lucas. I am Samuel Price, we have never been formally introduced but I admire the work you've done... »

Lucas has been working with Mallory for five years, helping him to consolidate his cabal. Before that, he was fighting other people's wars, until Mallory found him on a battlefield and told him he needed him.

Samuel didn't admire Lucas for his work with the Mallory cabal, but for what he used to do for his clan. Everyone of them trained as killers and thriving on power.

« … Listen, I don't know what my wife said to you but she doesn't have any gift. She isn't like us, isn't like my daughter. She doesn't understand our ways. »

Lucas reminded himself not to kill him.

« Your wife and your daughter are leaving with me. I will ask you not to try to follow us. »

Samuel leaned toward him, his face a mask of cold indignation barely contained.

« We are under Mallory's protection because I am paying the damn taxes. I am the one in charge of my family and I am saying that. We. Are. Fine. »

There were three knives on Lucas and each one of them were calling his name.

Samuel tried to bypass him. Lucas hit once, solar plexus, with the palm of the hand.

Something cracked under his hand. Lucas' enthusiasm got the better of him again.

Samuel fell, trying to breathe and failing as all the air was banned from his lungs.

« Not quite as fun when your opponent can fight back, isn't it ? »

Poor Samuel didn't manage to answer. He looked like he was about to throw up so when Lucas crouched down next to him, he made sure to put some distance.

« There is a bruise on your wife's neck, and she moves like someone who has at least broken ribs. Your child didn't say a word and is too serious for someone her age, as if she is scared to draw attention. »

He made sure he was listening.

« Right now, I don't have the time to take care of you and that's your saving grace. Consider yourself lucky and go away. If I see you again, you're dead. »

Lucas meant every word.

He rose and was about to leave this pathetic excuse of human being when he found his words. Most people weren't able to recover so fast, so he must have more resiliency.

« She tried to take my daughter away from me. That's why I hit her. You're quick to judge, but what about that ? »

Samuel ceased to be whatever he was to Lucas and became a mass of fragile bones, arteries, and pumping heart, hold together by fragile links and burst of strength, all of it too slow to protect itself.

He reminded himself that murder was wrong but the highlighting of every weakness didn't stop, Lucas' instinct insisting in showing how this man could cease to exist.

**The child could be looking.**

Innocence was precious because once it was gone, no one could get it back. Mathilda had probably seen a lot, maybe too much, and Lucas could spare her another show of violence. That thought allowed him to walk away from a petrified Samuel.

And to Riley, leaning on a tree, arm closed, and watching the prey Lucas had left.

« Didn't I ask you to wait in the car ? »

« You did. Are you finished here ? »

The same weak points he was seeing on Samuel were obvious on her. A slender neck easily broken, a throat easily reached with a blade, a chest he could attain with a knife, and no way to run faster than him if he decided to hunt her down. Except for the see-through mist around her, striking for him and unsuspected for others. The sign of the remnant protecting her, hidden but ready to defend its contractor.

Lucas focused and forced the beast inside him to go back to its slumber. He wasn't facing a prey but a fellow predator. This game required caution and subtlety.

« Yes, I am. Let's go. »

They went back to the car while Samuel fled as fast as he could.

« They are in your car and I gave them my tablet so they can watch some Disneys. »

« Beauty and the Beast ? »

She gave him a sharp look.

« Moana. »

Noone liked Beauty and the Beast anymore.

« In high school, some friends and I played football without protections. I cracked two ribs and I felt it for two weeks. »

« Why did you do that ? »

« Alcohol may have been involved. After that, I was moving like the lady you came to pick up. »

Lucas nodded, answering her silent question. Something harsh and angry passed on her face before disappearing.

« Why did you follow me ? »

« To see if you needed help so we could leave quickly. They need to go away. »

Riley had at least made a pact with a remnant and saw pain as nourishment for her dark guardian. Lucas wondered if she got away from Amanda and Mathilda so they wouldn't feel the influence of the remnant or in order not to be tempted.

  


  


 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The geist is in charge of the summaries.  
> Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoy the chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't do that to me

  
« That girl is creeping me out, » Duke repeated. « That's just wrong. »

Mitchell ignored him, not completely there while he was thinking of his next day off. Not a day where he wasn't supposed to work like a week-end or something else but a day when the cabal couldn't call him in. Otherwise, one phone call was enough to drop everything he was doing and rush wherever he was needed. But next week, his youngest had a recital and he had booked the day to hear her sing.

« We shouldn't even be here watching this freak. We don't need her. »

Duke talked when he was nervous. Always. Sometimes, his babbling was a decent white noise but the rest of the time, it was unnerving. But of course, Duke wasn't nervous this time. He was scared.

The window they were watching was still lit up despite how late it was. They were parked in front of the dorms, lights off so the Riley girl would not see them. She was barely older than his own sister, and she was powerful enough to worry Lucas himself. He had asked them to watch her, to warn him if she left, and to leave immediately if she tried to confront them.

« We should take care of this mess ourselves, » Duke continued.

« Like you did in this hospital ? » Mitchell asked.

Duke glared at him.

« We need her to help Lucas because we can't, » Mitchell reminded him. « Bitching about it won't solve the problem. »

« You weren't there. You can't understand. »

Mitchell didn't want to understand and hoped he would never have the occasion. Life-threatening situations weren't new to him, but the idea of something finding him and changing him from the inside while he could do nothing against it... That brought back some childhood nightmares, when his parents refused to let him go outside after nightfall for fear that something would see him as a tasty treat.

That made him think about his children and the familiar fear squeezed his heart. Kids were a funny, wonderful, and an incredibly stressful thing. You thought you could take care of them until they appeared, conjuring love and instinct of protection, and you understood you weren't ready. You just had to do your best.

Something changed, but only for Mitchell. His heart sped up and his hands became sweaty, reacting to an obvious threat he was the only one to feel. A shiver ran along his spine and goose bumps spread on the back of his neck and on his forearms, as his body was trying to warn him.

« We have to go, » he said as he was starting the engine.

Mitchell didn't come from a gifted clan like Lucas. He only had a little talent, quite simple : he knew when shit was about to hit the fan.

Duke looked at Riley's window with his binoculars, puzzled :

« She didn't move or anything. Are you sure ? »

The car slid down the road as Mitchell was watching the streetlamps, but there was no fluctuation with the lights. Silva had told him the remnant had a weird effet of the lighting back at the hospital and he had been watching them.

« Call Lucas. I am not taking any risk. »

The very specific sound of a police siren cut through the silence of the night, and blue and red lights appeared in Mitchell rearview mirror. Cops.

Mitchell could deal with the police. Better than with a remnant.

« What I.D do we have ? » he asked.

Duke looked quickly but Mitchell hold back a wince when he saw a badge.

« Boston P.D. Do we try it ? »

Mitchell stopped the car and waited for them. A car chase would have drawn too much attention.

« No, hide this. »

If the cops were here because of a call, the central would have checked if other policemen were in this zone, and if Duke and Mitchell pretended to be fellow agents, they had no official reason to be here.

He was still working on a good story when an agent in uniform came to meet them, a flashlight in hand.

« Sir, is there a problem ? » Mitchel asked.

The agent was about to answer when he looked beyond the driver and his eyes narrowed. Mitchell followed his gaze to Duke, who seemed mortified, and to the binoculars he was still holding.

As they were right in front of a girl dorm.

« I will have to ask you to step outside the vehicle, » the cop said grimly.

 

*

 

Riley closed her laptop as the police was leaving, accompanied by the two men in the car she didn't recognize. That wouldn't have been enough to make her suspicious but she had seen movements while she couldn't feel any presence despite focusing on them for two whole minutes.

She checked her phone. 11:03 p.m. It was late enough to call it a day but Rachel had insisted for her to come as soon as she could, saying she was working late at home anyway. When Riley had asked about Alexia, she had just told her to come and see herself and the smile in her voice could be heard at the other end of the line.

That was enough to overcome Riley's reluctance at the idea of going to Alexia's home after dark. Night was a strange time for her. The geist wasn't stronger, but without any distraction, ignoring it was more complicated. There were only the two of them then, her thoughts and its whispers.

She took a jacket and her keys, and five minutes later, she was on the road.

She should have been there earlier but she had stayed with Amanda and Mathilda until they were at a shelter so she could act as a buffer during the trip to ease them. Not that there was a problem with Lucas but being alone in a car with an intimidating man after she has just fled her husband put Amanda on edge. She couldn't help it, it wasn't Lucas' fault, and Riley's presence offered a solution.

And Mathilda was just adorable. The little girl had looked at her with big green eyes before declaring solemnly that Lucas smelled good but she smelled better. Riley wasn't sure of what that meant, except for the fact that the little girl obviously prefered her to Lucas, which proved she was a clever one who would go far.

That made her think about Lucas and a spark of irritation touched her. He had sent people to watch her, and the mere idea of being under surveillance was unnerving.

The cold spread under her skin, a soft influence that gently calmed her down and soothed her worries. She let it, and by the time she reached Alexia's house, she was tranquil.

The geist was almost peaceful since the shooting, enjoying the warmth of the general traumatism on the campus, without pushing her too much to feed directly. The more the geist fed, the less they had to fight each other, and she realized there was an intent behind its actions. Sometimes, it almost felt as if it was trying to take care of her.

That was what Stockholm syndrome must feel like.

She hid the cold inside her, bearing the full weight of it on her heart to look beyond suspicions, and she knocked on the door.

Rachel answered almost immediatly, smiling as if she was genuinely happy to see her or genuinely happy at all. She was so radious that she kinda looked... well, high as a kite. She was probably not but that was Riley's first impression.

« I am so glad you could make it. Come in, please. »

She did, puzzled.

« Can I get you something ? Coffee, tea ? Coke, maybe ? »

Riley knew she was supposed to be social and do small talks but she was born with a deficit of patience.

« I would like to know what happened with Alexia if you don't mind ? »

« Of course, » Rachel said while closing the door behind them. « I put her to bed a couple of hours ago but we should go check on her. Someone else will be there shortly to take care of her.

« Why ? »

« Come and see ! » she said before grabbing her hand and almost dragging her.

Why did people had such a hard time answering Riley's questions ?

They went upstairs, Rachel still holding her hand and moving without turning the lights on. She stopped right in front of Alexia's room and knocked at the door.

Last time Riley came, Alexia wasn't able to care about her privacy. Hope warmed Riley's heart and she hold her breath, suddenly unable to face the anticipation. Mallory had said they were actively looking for a cure. If a discovery was made, it wasn't surprising not to warn her before the families.

Carefully, she pushed the cold beyond the wooden door. She had never let it show inside Alexia's home, never, but suddenly she needed to feel her friend's presence.

The smile on her face, the one she didn't notice until then, faded as she didn't find anything notable. Rachel opened the door while Riley already wanted to leave because there was no warm light to welcome her, only traces, which must have meant Rachel spent too much time there.

_A waste of time._

« Alexia ? Riley is here ! »

The latter had to blink for a few seconds when the lights went on and when her retinas stopped screaming bloody murder, she saw Alexia, laid on her bed. Her eyes were open.

Her mother went to her bedside and helped her sit, arranging the pillows and the blanket.

The student stayed where she was.

Alexia was looking at Riley but there was nothing behind it. No sense of self or purpose.

« Doesn't she look much better ? » Rachel asked.

Riley came very close to bluntly say « Not really » but she clenched her jaw at the last second. She hasn't socialized for a long time and she tended to forget that all truths were not good to hear. So she wisely shut up on this one.

« She still doesn't feel well but there is progress, » Rachel continued. « She knows we are here. »

Riley wasn't used to actually watch her surroundings, not when she had an entity that warned her every time there was a disturbance in the force, but she forced herself to look carefully. She came closer.

Alexia's skin wasn't white as cray anymore, the pink tint was back and she actually looked healthier. She was reacting to Riley's movement, her eyes tracking them. It was more than before.

She _looked_ again, letting herself feel instead of actively looking for. The most obvious one was Rachel Steward, a fire of hope and motherly love focused on her daughter. No wonder Riley couldn't notice anything next to her.

But she felt something. Not much, no more than a spark. But it was steady. There was something.

How could she miss it ?

Riley realized she wasn't hungry enough to care about such a weak source of nourishment.

« Did something happened ? » she asked.

Rachel nodded.

« I asked for help. »

« Whose help ? »

Rachel's phone rang and she checked it immediately, a smile floating on her lips. She was indeed high. On hope.

This couldn't end well.

« I am leaving you for a minute. »

Riley didn't watch Rachel leave. Instead, she left herself fall in the chair by Alexia's bed, suddenly very tired by all this. And by that she meant life in general.

During her last visit, Alexia had looked like a doll ready to turn into dust because of old age. Now, she looked like Sleeping Beauty, ready to awaken from her slumber with an incentive. Knowing Alexia, it would involve some horrible jumper.

Someone entered the house. Riley could feel the presence downstairs. Maybe Alexia's father. A nice man always smiling and ready to joke, that adored his daughter and liked Riley by association.

Alexia was almost magic in her own way. Not only did people tended to immediately like her, but they became something more around her, better. She interacted with them as if she saw how interesting and unique they could be and they made sure not to disappoint.

Everything was more interesting when she was around.

« The world needs you more that it needs me, » she noticed out loud.

The presence was right behind the door.

« She is a work in progress, » a familiar woman's voice said as the door opened.

Oupsie. Definitely not Alexia's father.

« Good evening Echo, » she greeted without moving.

« Good evening Riley. I am sorry. It's not much but I only had a few days to work with her. »

The young woman turned to the new guest who was smiling at her. She didn't seem surprised to see how Riley didn't need to see her coming.

Echo was a beautiful woman, tall and athletic, with a heart-shaped face framed in waves of chestnut hair that almost reached her hips. She was wearing a white shirt, a jean and sneakers. Riley recognized her because she had bumped into her this morning.

« Why are you taking care of Alexia ? »

Echo smiled at the abrupt question and closed the door behind her before walking to the nearest chair. She moved like Lucas. In a less arrogant way, maybe.

« Straight to the jugular, right ? Ms. Steward asked for our help and we think we can do something. Not that we've done this before but there were similar situations where qi was drained off and some treatments have been conceived... »

Qi was a way to say life force. Riley knew about it because she read too much manga.

« … The trick is to be very careful. Alexia is damaged, she is unable to withstand enough energy to be brought back completely, so we have to rebuild her resistance little by little. »

Hope was a poison, like any drug. It helped you survive to every day struggle until it was taken away from you and the thing started to rot in your veins.

« Riley ? » Echo called carefully while the student was lost in a storm of thoughts. « I am not the enemy. I am here to help. »

« From the kindness of your heart ? »

« No. But this is between the Stewards and us. However, I wanted to contact you as soon as I learned about Alexia's condition. »

She paused and looked around, not impressed by the room.

« I think we should let the Stewards rest. Unless you still have something to do here ? »

« I don't. »

« Then, let's go ! The night is beautiful and if I don't get some fresh air, I will fall asleep right here and there. »

Riley rose and followed the strange woman that talked about qi and supernatural healing as if it was common knowledge. At no point was she worried, not when she could so clearly feel her presence, hot mist pulsing with purpose. A little different from what she was used to but reachable.

The night was deliciously cool but not cold. They were in a residential district, full of houses and of lights that repelled the dark.

« My cabal accumulates knowledge, » Echo explained as they reached their cars parked next to each other. « Everyone of us want to push the boundaries, to learn more, but we also have a history of making deals. After all, these secrets have to be useful. »

« So you made a deal with Alexia's parents. »

If it involved a contract signed in blood and the mention of a firstborn or a soul, Riley would run to Mallory like a scared child.

« Yes. We are not servants or samaritans. We are paid for our services. »

« With actual money ? »

Echo raised an eyebrow at the query. She was sitting on her car, stretching slightly like someone who hasn't slept in a bed for some time.

« That's a strange question, but yes. We rarely accept art or stones, and they have no secret that could interest us. »

Riley breathed again, leaving Echo puzzled.

« Why do you look so relieved? »

« For nothing. Why are you saying this to me if you make everyone pay for your secrets ? »

« There are several reasons. What I am revealing isn't expensive secrets and everyone working in my organization can have access to them. You may also have noticed I am not hiding from you. Don't think it's because I don't have access to protections similar to the ones Mallory uses. »

Riley hasn't noticed, she breathed in this truth. She hasn't noticed how stressful it was to interact with Lucas while she wasn't able to _see_ him.

« Then why ? »

« I don't think you would harm me for no reason and I don't intend to give you one. I believe we can help each other. We are always looking for new talents and we could help you with your appetites. »

« I am not interested. »

Echo smiled, more a derisive smirk that her usual crooked smile, as if she expected this answer.

« Call if you ever change your mind. Can I give you some advice ? »

« You can but that doesn't mean I will follow it. »

Echo smiled again, more amused that anything else.

« Indulge me. You don't seem to know anything about the cabals, but now, you're involved. You need some basic intel. »

Riley knew where she was going with this. She had known Mallory and Lucas were dangerous from the moment she met them.

« Mallory's cabal function like a mob, protection in exchange of a tithe. This isn't a bad thing in itself because a lot of people involved in our circles don't have the means to protect themselves from threats the police can't do anything against. It's a way to maintain order. »

Echo's gaze gains something that looked like melancholy, as she seemed to have a specific recollection. And it wasn't pleasant.

« But for them to have legitimacy, everyone must play this game, » she continued. « They have clients, employees and threats. You don't need their protection, you don't seem to want to work for anyone, and that leaves only one place for you. »

« So are you, » Riley noticed.

« But I am not alone. Well, neither are you now that I think about it. »

Augh. Hearing this woman recognize out loud that something was wrong with Riley was unsettling. How was she supposed to live in denial if more and more people knew about her ?

Echo rolled her her sleeve and showed ink black sigils decorating her skin all over her arm.

« You're not the only one who were changed. »

Riley was beginning to understand it. When the cold first set in, she knew she would be alone with this. She was mistaken.

« Can I ask you a question ? »

« Sure. »

« What are remnants ? »

Echo's eyes became even warmer than before and she grinned.

« I know five researchers who study their origins and they would have given you a course right here and there. Remnants... They were gods. Gods walking on this earth until they died and even death wasn't enough to stop them. »

Echo talked about them with awe and fondness, as if they were wonderful creatures. Riley couldn't comprehend how she could like them, without showing any hint of fear or repulsion, whereas she had healed Alexia.

But Lucas and Riley were looking for the other remnant's partner. Maybe Echo considered the remnant as a weapon, devoid of responsibility because it obeyed someone else.

Riley's geist was a nightmare born to life, but the young woman had no doubt it has her best interest at her. It healed her, emotionally and physically, it gave her strength and quiet, it made her more. It just couldn't understand why he couldn't feast and make them both happy.

« But you are in the best place to know about them, » Echo finished.

« I don't want to know about them. Actually, I never asked for this and I don't want to have a remnant attached to me. »

The words have left her mouth before she could stop them.

Echo was staring at her, her eyes comically wide.

Oh, fuck it. She had no reason to pretend her life wasn't fucked up.

« You've been honest with me. I did not make a deal. It just appeared and I have to live with it. I want it gone, so excuse me if I don't share your enthusiasm. »

Echo was really still, like a startled cat that had no idea of how to deal with the situation

« You want to... Get rid of the remnant ? »

Riley nodded.

« Why ? » the poor woman managed to ask despite being breathless.

Echo was about to have a heart attack. Riley had to put an end to this discussion before she was blamed for another tragedy.

« It hurts, it's ruining my life and it's twisting me from the inside. »

Echo visibly needed a minute.

« Glad we had this talk, but now, I have to lea... »

« I can help you. »

Riley stopped.

« To do what ? »

« To make the remnant unable to reach you. It's the same principle that the cloaking device. I will have to talk about it with practitioners but from what I know, that's possible. »

Riley just looked at her.

« And you have an easy way to pay if you accept to tell us what's it's like to like with a remnant. We need testimony to learn more about the creatures of the depths. »

Even the geist was extremely still inside her, the whispers she had learn to ignore were almost quiet.

It was almost like it was scared.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is so much dialogue and that's not my strong point but I need it to give some answers, so sorry.
> 
> When I started writing a fic, noone told me I would have three books worth of backstories that I can't place for everyone of my characters. That's rude.
> 
> I hope you enjoy the chapter. If you do, don't hesitate to leave a kudo or a comment, it helps me write!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm underneath your skin.

 

**Friday**

  


Not now.

That had been her answer. Not now. Echo had said she understood and had explained she could wait.

Riley took a detour. The night was beautiful and it wasn't as if someone was waiting for her. She didn't want to go somewhere, she just wanted to keep driving.

To keep thinking.

Not now.

Riley wasn't afraid of ghosts and monsters, of people who hurt others for sport, she wasn't afraid that someone could hurt her. She wasn't scared of violence, or of mass shooting. She wasn't scared Lucas would kill her or that Alexia would stay a vegetable for the rest of her life.

No, something else terrified her, the rare times when she let the cold not eat this part of her.

She was scared of the future. She was scared of tomorrow, that each day would bring more problems than she could handle. She was scared of what would happen, how she could find a place to live, how she would find a job, how she would survive with her parents so far away and if she was trapped in this life because she was too afraid to look for anything else.

She used to have a plan : find a job, find a place, be comfortable, so she could manage the cold in peace with her mind free of worries. And now, she had no job, no home, and the cold was her shield and her crutch. For now, because she fed it with the tragedy that happened just a few days ago so it would leave her in peace.

What would happen when the balance would change again ? When she will reach the breaking point and won't be able to contain the cold anymore ? Because that would happen sooner or later.

Riley wasn't as strong as she wanted to be.

Temptation was a powerful force. She knew how to solve some of her problems, with raw strength and will. She could walk in any interview for a job and scare straight anyone in charge. She could do the same to any landlords. But she didn't want to be that person and that's what was saving the world from her.

That's why a week ago, she wouldn't have hesitated to seize this chance to be normal. If it worked, she was free, otherwise, she would have a geist ready to unleash hell to protect her. There was nothing to lose, and everything to win.

She wanted it. She wanted it so much she felt the aching in her bones, next to the cold that was curled up inside her, waiting. It knew how tempted she was.

But she had made a deal and she was bound by her own word. Without her condition, she had no way to find the victims, no way to fight the remnant. And even if she weaseled out, that meant the remnant would be free to wreck havoc, to destroy people. Riley was far from selfless but she didn't want anyone to live what she had endured.

She wanted to help but she refused to sacrifice her well-being for it. That was it, the whole selfish truth.

She would have to hold on. One selfless act and she would be free, able to live with herself.

 _Weak, unable to protect ourselves_ , the cold whispered.

 _You're the one I have to be protected from_ , she shouted back.

 _Don't do this_ , it pleaded for the first time.

She turned on the radio and let the music drown the thoughts that didn't belong to her.

By the time she came back to the dorms, there was no strange car parked in front of her window but she knew someone was in the common room. Someone waiting in the dark for her to come back.

She entered quietly, making no noise and not bothering to turn the lights on, staying in the dark as the kitchen side was lighted. A girl with short hair was drinking a glass of water, while a orange plastic bottle was waiting on the kitchen counter. Pills.

The poor girl almost jumped out of her skin when she noticed Riley lurking in the dark like some slasher of a horror movie. People frightened so easily these days.

« Since where are you here ? Why aren't you sleeping like a normal person ? »

« Two seconds. Sleep is for the weaks. Sorry, I didn't want to scare you. »

« You didn't scare me. »

She said it so vehemently that Riley choose not to say anything about how half of her glass of water was now on the floor.

The girl moved a little to face Riley and to hide the pills from her. She hds lived on her floor for two years, they had eaten lunch several times together, and her name refused to reveal itself.

« Sure. Sorry for bothering you. Good night. And no need to hide your treatment from me, I don't care. »

Her nameless neighbourg catch up to her as she was about to reach the stairs, her room, her bed, and rest.

« Riley ! » she whispered-screamed.

She knew her name so she had the advantage and Riley accepted to stop. The short-hair girl looked like she was about to combust.

« Sometimes, I get nervous, and I need a little help to sleep but I don't really want people to know, » she explained.

« Nobody cares that you have anxiety. Nobody cares that you need something so your brain doesn't fuck you up.» She realized how harsh she sounded. «What I mean is that you don't have to worry about what other people might think, not that your problems are insignificant. And you're far from the only one. »

« I didn't talk about anxiety. How did you know ? »

She was giving off a wave of solid heat, enough to indicate something strong and difficult to control but she didn't look happy, so it must meant it was the other way. Staying next to her was strangely comforting, like being wrapped in a blanket and realizing that she was actually cold this whole time.

But of course, Riley couldn't tell her about that.

« Nervous is the go-to-go term to your mind pointing at every potential problems, every bad situation that you could be involved in. Which must have been a good thing when our ancestors were in a dangerous environment but now, it's jut exhausting and stresful. One thing that can help is to say outloud what is positive because your brain is focused on the bad things.  And if you need meds, take them. Seriously.»

The short-haired girl smiled.

« You speak from experience ? I thought nothing could touch you. You're always so... »

She gestured at Riley.

« Stunning and absolutely gorgeous ? »

« Also that, » she joked. « Nothing seems to affect you. »

Because some entity ate at her emotions when she wasn't letting him inflict damages to feed.

« Seems, » she simply said.

Her interlocutor seemed to think about it. She opened her mouth, about to ask something, but changed her mind :

« Have you any news about Alexia? » she asked instead.

« She is still in a bad place. But she will get better. »

 

*

  


The smell of fresh-made coffee woke Lucas up. He had fallen asleep on his desk, a deliberate choice because his couch was too far. He got up and opened his window, wincing when the cold air got in.

Mallory knocked at the door, the sound of his cane hitting the floor easily identifiable, and didn't wait Lucas' invitation. He entered inside the office, his cane under his arm as he was opening the door, a tray with the most wonderful beverage in the world in the other hand. He smiled at Lucas who was removing the pile of paper he had used as a pillow.

« It's eight in the morning, Mallory. There is no reason to smile at such an hour. »

« Does that mean you don't want my coffee ? »

That was a dangerous conversation. He sat and Mallory did the same, obviously amused.

« I never said I didn't want your coffee. It's your smile I don't want. »

« My smile and my coffee are indivisible. »

« Please, stop playing with me, » Lucas begged.

Mallory poured him a cup and Lucas took it in his two hands, savoring the sensation of the hot porcelain. The first sip was heavenly, nectar that sled on his tongue and filled him with hapiness. The second was even better. When he finished, he could pass for a human being once again.

Unfortunately, Mallory never brought him coffee for nothing. He made it to soothe him.

« Is someone dead ? » Lucas asked.

« No, the night was quiet in this regard. Mitchell and Duke were also released from custody. »

Mallory raised an eyebrow and Lucas followed his gaze until he saw the Barrett sniper rifle leaning on the wall. Lucas never hid his love of blades but sometimes, long range weapons were more efficient and he had a fondness for good rifle.

« Lucas? » he called in his reasonnable voice.

« She called the cops on my men, » he reminded his employer.

Mallory poured him a second cup.

« You can't buy her life with coffee, » Lucas complained.

« I am buying yours. I don't want you two fighting for now. »

This wouldn't be a fight. The more he thought about it, the more Lucas wanted to avoid such a situation. The remnant had left Duke and Silva crying for one and completly dissociated for the other. And Lucas had been left angry. A particular kind of anger that only affected his people, when the world got cold and every breathing person became a target and nothing more.

Lucas's anger was what other people called fury and wrath.

His clan used to encourage it with his younger members. They would take them anywhere in the world with gifted people, anyone who posed a challenge, and they would send them clean the area first. By the time the people actually involved in these wars came in, there would be no enemy left.

He drank more coffee.

Distance was needed. The Barrett fired 0.50 cal at twice the speed of sound. Riley would be dead before hearing the shot, and she would never have the time to call her remnant. An elegant solution to the problem.

« If you want to add a remnant to your tally, I can take care of the girl instead of hunting something that is already hidden away from us. Your standing will improve and we won't have to worry so much about a rival cabal burning our precinct to the ground. »

Mallory looked stunned, which improved Lucas' day, like every time he managed to surprise him.

« You can't be serious. »

« I am. You made a deal. I didn't. »

« You don't know if she is responsible for the carnage at the gaz station. It could be the other remnant who attacked and she managed to save herself and her friend. She might be a victim. Maybe she isn't but she is someone trapped in a bad situation with no solution in sight, the kind of people we're supposed to help. »

It would have been convincing to anyone except Lucas. Mallory pretended he was a man of honor, who wanted what was best for his people. The latter was right but that man had just seen too much chaos and was longing for order like a drowning man longed for dry land, and he was ready to do anything not to see senseless massacre.

Mallory had a plan, it was obvious.

« Or maybe you want to add a remnant to your tally, » Mallory continued with a crooked smile that indicated he was about to say something stupid. « A hero from the Valentine clan smiting a creature of the Depths. An other mighty act from a Valentine hero... »

Lucas raised a hand to tell him to stop with the insulting bullshit.

« Is there something you're hiding from me ?

« A lot actually. »

That bastard didn't even take the time to think about it.

« Something that affects me and my ability to do my job ? » he specified this time. « Or actually any reason why you want to keep Riley alive ? »

« I have a hunch about it. There is something we don't understand there and rushing will do us no good. »

''Something we don't understand'' was a good euphemism to qualify the madness that life had become since a remnant was sighted. Half of Boston gifted population had taken a vacation far away from here, the master of the city pretended to be blind and everyone was scared. The remnant had disappeared, they couldn't find him, and their trap had been ruined. Moreover, the victims they hadn't found yet were probably preparing themselves to go home tonight.

At least, Collin, their analyst, was working right now on a list of students and teachers that were in contact with the four survivors.

Every lead they though they had was contaminated by Riley's presence. Two remnants at the same place and not working together was unheard. For all they knew, maybe the first remnant was feeding randomly on a large sample of students but Riley's influence had driven them over the edge somehow.

Lucas regretted the good old times where they gave him a target that could actually bleed and get killed.

Mallory sighted so deeply Lucas braced himself.

« I have something to tell you and there is no way to be nice about it, » he admitted. « Clark wants to be transferred out your team. »

Lucas didn't said anything. He just looked at Mallory.

Every member of Lucas' team was chosen carefully, for their mental, their durability and their determination. Everyone could be trained, and talents weren't as important as the ability to survive whatever the dark was throwing at them. And despite these precautions, Lucas' team had the highest turnover ever seen in a cabal.

Clark was a former Navy seal with a hand-eye perfect coordination. He perfectly judged the distance and exercised superb control when he shot so Lucas never had to worry about getting accidentally shot in the back by that teammate.

It happened. Several times. Hence his distrust of guns.

« I thought he was in sick leave and needed a few weeks to get back on track. »

He was quoting him verbatim.

« He thinks he would be more useful in another position, » Mallory explained quietly.

Lucas was tired of his men fleeing his command after three months.

« No need to replace him, » he finally said.

« You can't take care of every assignment on your own. You need people you can count on. »

Mallory looked at his leg.

« People that can run after you, needless to say. »

« Don't flatter yourself, I don't even trust you now. »

« Thank you, Lucas. »

« The first time I met you, I thought you were the Devil himself. »

« I got you out of Columbia, » Mallory reminded him. « Without me, you would have tried to walk out of there. »

Indeed.

« I had a plan. »

That was a lie.

« I hope you don't have one for tonight. I need a bodyguard to meet some potential clients. »

« I am ecstatic. »

  


*

  


Despite the late hour, the sun hasn't risen yet so the cells were still dark when the prisoner returned to his after breakfast. He was laying on his bed and was looking at the grey ceilling, trying not to exist. Not to think about anything, not to be anyone, because when a flash of identity passed through his mind, it didn't stop there.

What he did didn't haunt him like everyone assumed. No, the real torture was before, when he was happy. Every beautiful memory of happiness, of support, of a time when he thought nothing could stop him, the reminiscences of when he was innocent stabbed him cruelly until he couldn't breathe.

He was haunted by everything he lost.

And with this thought, the prisoner became once again Teddy Lewis, psychotic murderer. Pitiful monster.

His family came to visit him two days ago, as soon as they arrived to Boston. He had refused to see them, so they passed by his lawyer to give him a letter. They wrote that they couldn't understand why he would do such a terrible thing, but that didn't change anything. That the son and brother they knew wasn't a bad person and that something must have happened. That he did a terrible thing that they couldn't understand but they were family.

And they begged to see him.

He had asked his lawyer to warn them that it wouldn't happen.

Because they would ask why and he had no answer to offer them.

Because they thought he was still his parents' son and his sister's baby brother. But the truth was that he had the time of his life. He had been calm and peaceful as he killed, almost giddy. He had been free, and what he went through allowed him to savor it. Those who didn't go through chaos could not understand the heaven that order and purpose were.

But what a price to pay.

He covered his eyes with his arm and he tried to become noone again.

Something tickled his shoulder and he tapped it by reflex. Of course, nothing was here, it was just an itch.

The sensation spread all over him, like his skin wasn't made for him.

It was a memory, not the reality. He had to go to the infirmary if anything like that happened, so he started to move. Tried to move.

He was frozen. How did he not notice he was so cold his muscles couldn't obey him ?

_How could you think it was over ?_

Dread filled him until there was nothing else. Pure terror as his heartbeat sped up as if it wanted to escape his chest.

People were right outside his cell. He could hear them. He opened his mouth to scream but the ice cloaked his throat and no sound managed to come out.

 **Please, someone help me.** He was screaming it so loudly he had to be heard by someone, anyone.

His heart was hurting his chest.

_How could you think you could escape from me ?_

Teddy remembered everything, his happy memories that were too painful to think about. Except he remembered them clearly now, without the filter of stupidity. Every loving moments except that he didn't feel it anymore. Just family bound by duty, friends bound by sheer coincidence, and a girlfriend too good for him that just didn't realize it yet.

It was now obvious that every thing he held on could have happened to anyone else in the same setting. He never really had anything. He never was anyone.

His heart beat faster, harder, but the pain was far away as he realized more and more.

Until it stopped.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I reread this chapter on Ao3 and not in my Word document and I was horrified to see so many typos. I am so sorry, I reread my chapters before I post them, but somehow, I can't see the horrors I sometimes write. My only excuse is that English isn't my first language. I am rereading everything and tracking them as I write those words. 
> 
> Thank you for reading my story.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm the poison in your bones.

 

**Friday**

 

Despite what most people thought, German was a beautiful language. To Riley, it was what her mother sang to chase the nightmares away, the fairy tales in their originals editions she used to take from her office, and the words her father butchered to make his wife laugh.

But three hours of it at 8 a.m with only five hours of sleep was just plain mean. There were only fifty people in this class, but they more no more than fifteen the day before the Spring Break. With what happened this week, none of the professors said a word about it.

About fifteen people in the same room. All stressed, all wanting to go home, all of them light and warmth. Beautiful radiant things that gave off delicious energy, only traces but that was enough to pick her interest.

Two hours into the course and there was nothing left of it. She wasn't tired anymore. They haven't even flinched.

She was getting better at this. Maybe because the geist was calmer, maybe because it gave her enough room to work on what she could do.

Not that it mattered. Soon, the geist would be gone and she would be back to her life, instead of the mess she was currently living in. But in the meantime, she had to be sure not to cause a catastrophe and that meant feeding the beast so she would keep being fine.

Riley had noticed she couldn't feel her own light. She as conscious of the pressure of the geist, of how cold she was, but for all she knew, she didn't emit any warmth. So she wondered if someone with the same set of senses as her would see this classroom as a sky full of stars unaware that a black hole was among them.

When the lesson finished, she dashed to the outside, away from others. She checked her phone to see that Lucas had called her during the class. He picked up at the first ringing.

« Riley ? » he asked before leaving her the time to talk. « Where are you ? »

« Between classes but if you need me for anything, I can skip it all together. »

« No, I am not calling for that. »

His tone was strange. He didn't exactly seemed annoyed or angry, but something in-between that wasn't even directed at her.

« It's about Lewis. I am sorry but he died this morning in his cell. »

Oh.

« Suicide? » she felt herself asking.

« No, it was a heart attack. I preferred to warn you before you heard it in the news. »

The geist came closer to the surface, like a pet detecting that their master was troubled.

« I see, » Riley said. « Do you need me for anything ? »

« No, not today. Are you alright ? »

« I am, » she assured but her voice was shaking.

That stupid sonovabitch who didn't even have the decency to stay alive.

By the time she reached her Chinese class, people shivered when she walked by them. She put herself in a corner, dragged every bit of cold inside her, and thundered forth silently.

There was a grim consolation in knowing she wasn't the only unlucky person who somehow had managed to attract a remnant. In knowing she wasn't the only fucked-up person around here. Teddy had been the most damaged one she had ever knew, but at least he managed to survive. She took comfort in knowing that there could be an after-remnant.

And now, an university student whose scholarship came from basket-ball was dead from a heart attack. His body had suddenly failed him.

What did it mean for someone like Alexia who was just the shadow of who she had been ? What did it mean for someone like Riley if she kept fighting the remnant ?

 

*

 

Despite the pompous name, the restaurant La Belle Amie was crowded by very different people, from the family of five who laughed and spoke with animation, to the senior assiociates who were plotting something to take over their firm. Everyone living inside the limits of their tables, not bothering to pay attention to their environment as they talked, laughed, argued. The staff was passing among them, indifferent to the animation.

None of them knew they were witnesses to a negotiation between two powerful organizations.

Lucas and Mallory were at a table by a large window, with India. The emissary sent by Mallory's potential clients was a woman with a round face and black curly hair that barely reached her shoulders. Her dark sleeveless dress was loose-fitting and all in lace, cut in such a way that you could only guess the skin underneath.

« I absolutely loved this restaurant ! Everything on the menu us just delicious, » she said with a smile that reached her eyes.

« Do you often come here ? » Mallory asked.

« Not as much as I would like, » she admitted. « But when I can, I love to introduce new people to this place. »

India might have been a gastronome, but she was also a trained killer. It was obvious to Lucas as soon as he saw her. Not that it was unusual. Most of the representatives had to be able to get out of a dangerous situation when the dialogue went wrong and someone decided to blame the messenger.

Still, Lucas recognized it in the black sigils almost invisible in her as dark skin, each one of them designed to enhance her strength, speed, coordination and resistance. He saw it in the way she carried herself, the perfect control she exerted on her body. Each movements beginning and finishing exactly where she intended them to.

And he found it in her eyes. No dark glint that indicated the state of her soul, no coldness that betrayed what she was. Just constancy. She had a way to look at the world that would be the same if she watched a movie, laughed with her friends or was standing amidst a massacre.

« I am also an amateur of French cuisine so I couldn't be happier about your choices, » Mallory assured.

« That's good to hear. I've always thought that sharing a meal was the best way to learn to know someone. And I like being among a crowd. »

She looked around her, wacthing the others clients. Something akin to melancholy passed on her features and for a moment, India looked ancient.

« We aren't like them and we can't show our true natures, because it would mean exposing ourselves. We are pretending to abide by the rules of this society, but we are ancient. Older than the laws. And tha means we can't ask for help from it. »

She looked at them again and all trace of sadness was gone.

« What you're trying to do is wonderful, Mr. Mallory. We aggregate in cabals and in clans to protect ourselves from what our brothers ans sisters could do to us. But only a few has this privilege. The rest is at the mercy of whatever protectors they could find. »

A lot of them liked to hunt, and regular human beings had their limits. There was always a hunger for preys.

« Unfortunately, » Mallory noted, « the cabals aren't enough, even for their members. They protect those who work for them as long as they are useful and their security depends on their influences. »

India glanced at the waiters and looked embarrassed for a moment. Alas, none of them had their meals. None of them had ordered cooked meat. Lucas followed a tray with his gaze, puzzled. Under the spices, his nose said pork but that looked like lamb.

« I didn't mean to start talking about business before eating. This is bad etiquette, » she noticed.

« Please, do, » Mallory assured. « I understand how my services can raise concerns and talking about it is the perfect way to see if we can help each other »

« Fine. There are two main points that trouble us. »

And it began.

« You're offering us protection but both of you aren't based in this town. And you're the best elements in your company. »

They were based at New York but their domain spread over several states. Their MO was quite simple. They first convinced the most influent cabals of a town to accept their protections so the rest of the population would follow.

Well, Mallory did. Lucas only made sure they walked out alive of these meetings and didn't bother to talk. Mallory had once asked him not to say anything if he couldn't utter something nice.

« You have to understand that I am not counting on our reputation alone to maintain order, » Mallory explained. « We are leaving an extremely well-trained militia able to intervene as soon as a problem arises. We do not need champions anymore but a force you can count with. Our special agents only work on direct threats. »

Their meals arrived and they stopped talking as a waiter put their respective plates in front of them. An ordinary man dressed in black pants and a white shirt, and who was as tall as Mallory but thin like these teenagers who grew up to fast. His movements were clumsy, too fast and uncontrolled, and for a moment, Lucas thought that Mallory's salmon would land on his lap.

He caught his own plate of carpaccio before it had the occasion to fly across the table. The waiter nodded and left without a word. He also had a strange way of walking, slightly bouncing as if he repeatedly surged forward instead of moving in one movement.

India started cutting her Steak Tartare in little pieces, placing them on her plate in tiny bites.

« So your finest will act when faced with sufficient threats, » she admitted. « We might be able to work with that. But there is our second point. My cabal is big enough to protect its own. Why would we need your help ? »

« Well, I could tell you that securing this state will allow everyone to feel safe and people not fearing for their life is inherently a good thing. »

India chuckled.

« But let's talk about efficiency, » Mallory continued with a smile that mirrored hers. « How many people die because there is no rule to protect hem ? And most of them aren't even talentless, they just don't have the time to develop their abilities. This is a tremendous waste of ressources. »

He tasted a bite of his salmon and seemed impressed.

« You were right about this restaurant, it's absolutely delicious. »

Mallory was starting to convince her, Lucas could see it. There was an ideal behind his employer's actions but explaining it to those who didn't fear for their safety was pointless. People were not attracted to beautiful ideas but to benefits.

« Think about it, » he continued. « A lack of order is what kills cabals. Our people in Boston are fighting each other. Young talents are destroyed or have to hide and ignore their abilities to survive, so only a few of them made themselves known. When was the last time you were able to recruit someone with an ability that wasn't strength-related ? »

India seemed amused.

« Maybe that what we are looking for ? Only the best can reach us. »

« Except they aren't the best, Lucas noticed. « It's either the lucky ones or those who were vicious enough to survive, while you need stable individuals for your work. »

People with mental abilities needed more time to develop their gifts, and that explained why there were few of them. Why let live someone who could one day threaten you ? So people born as predators were numerous and this lack of flexibility presented a threat for the cabals.

The emissary raised an eyebrow.

« I would have thought you would be a strong advocate of the old ways. »

« The old ways are holding us back. »

She leaned forward, something predatory in her eyes.

« What an interesting thing to say. »

Yep, she had definitely killed before.

Mallory got still as he also understood it but hid it in an instant.

India became once again the perfect example of professionalism.

« Do you mind if I make a call ? You got an interesting point. »

« Of course. »

She slightly pushed her now empty plate and left in the direction of the women's room, her phone in her hand, her jacket and bag still on her chair. A waiter abruptly stopped not to ram into her. Lucas couldn't say if none of them had any sense of coordination or if he was so used to be around fighters that everyone else seemed clumsy.

Hell, he couldn't even say if it was their waiter. All the staff looked the same, white, dressed in the same dark slacks and white shirt, the same vacant expression on their face, heir either short for the men, either tied for the women.

They moved through the animation of the room as if they didn't belong there. There was an alien feeling about them.

« Next time, I choose the place, » he commented.

Mallory glanced at his untouched plate.

« Not a fan of the food or not a fan of India ? »

« I don't care about India as long as she doesn't try to kill us and I am not sure about what meat I have so that just doesn't look tasty anymore. »

Mallory frowned and raised the plate to his nose, ruining any chance for Lucas to ever touch his dish.

He paled and looked around him, his face suddenly blank.

« We get out, » he ordered. « Now. »

Lucas didn't bother arguing or asking why. He scanned the place without seeing any sign of anger but they immediately got up as Lucas threw some cash on the table. The dark-haired man placed himself between his charge and the rest of the room as they walked to the door, Mallory's cane hitting furiously the marble as he hurried.

The waiters and the waitresses stopped. All of them at one, their heads moving in a same movement as they watched them, under the curious and increasingly worried looks of the customers.

Lucas' fingers touched his belt as he was reaching for the knife hidden by his jacket.

Mallory stopped behind him, inhaling sharply and Lucas glanced behind him.

There was no door anymore, as if it was never here. They were trapped.

Something rippled. Not the building, not the air around them, but space itself and everything changed. The walls became sturdier, the windows darkened and the lighting turned from pale yellow to red. Silence was reigning, absolute master of this realm.

But that was nothing next to the staff. They didn't shift so much as they revealed themselves. Ordinary face became no face at all, ther tall statures were even more elongated and their shapes were emaciated, thinner than someone could be with a human skeleton under their skin.

Lucas looked at them, waiting for weaknesses to appear. Instead, the walls seemed to sizzle, protecting their own, but he had no idea of what that meant.

The pale things that once passed for waiters were dispersed everywhere in the room, among people who watched them with wide eyes. A second was not enough to realize the world they knew wasn't as safe as they thought. And so, noone had the time to say anything before the monsters pounced on every breathing souls in sight.

The customers still didn't understand what was happening as they were ripped apart but they screamed, until they stopped abruptly. Too far to be helped, not when Mallory and Lucas had no time to do anything except survive.

Lucas avoided one monster lunging at him, using its momentum to make it spin and he slitted his throat before it could attain Mallory. The pale thing fell, gargling on the red blood flowing from its wound and Lucas jumped to reach another.

He stabbed it in the back of the neck as it ripped a woman's arm, moving the blade harshly until he felt the vertebra pop. Spinal cord severed in one move.

He punched another one with all his strength, in the chest, but it barely bulged and tried to grab him. He leaped on the right and sliced the tendon so its arm felt at its side, useless now, and he used this opening to slash his jugular.

Behind him, Mallory was shooting, the noise almost deafening. He took his time, and each bullet found a target. Most of them didn't even bother the pale things.

From the corner of his eye, Lucas saw the first one he killed starting to move. The warrior spun furiously and grabbed it before it could rise and attack again, before throwing it on two of its friends.

He went down on them and slashed and cut, then moved along to kill more.

He saw the pale things feeding on the fallen customers, their mouths full of several rows of fangs biting off huge chunks of flesh, and others coming from the kitchen started to arrive in the room to participate in the feast. More and more, and those Lucas had killed were rising again as he killed others.

The world went red and Lucas felt a surge of strength. He snarled, and slashed and cut, dancing among them, always avoiding the claws that tried to pierce through him and the hands that tried to grab him.

Standing between them and Mallory, making himself a target.

**He would kill them all, even if it took forever.**

They abandoned their preys and rushed towards him, pushing him back with sheer number. He threw them around with his bare hand until he had the space to use his blade again and he cut them to shreds. He couldn't see anything beyond the pale monsters, and only the thunder of Mallory's gun assured him he was still alive.

Until he heard the click of an empty chamber.

One glance showed a smart-ass in the back leaving the group as he approached Mallory. Lucas stabbed an adversary in the face, used the blade as leverage to make him turn around as he used it as a meat shield to amuse its friends, and he threw another blade.

It settled exactly in the spine of the wanderer. The monster near Mallory crashed down. His employer grabbed a metal tray, put it on the thing's neck and rammed his foot until the tray completly sank into the flesh. Once the head was severed, Mallory kicked it away.

Not bad.

Pain exploded in Lucas' shoulder as a pale thing that had crept behind him bite him. Lucas screamed and jumped until he rammed it into a wall, again and again until he felt the bones crunching between his body and the wall. He stabbed behind him and touched its jaw. The damn thing dropped but more were trying to hit him. There was no end to it.

Lucas realized he was smiling.

He didn't manage to pull back the knife in time so he left it where it was as he kicked a kneecap and heard a beautiful crunch noise. The monster fell forward and Lucas' hand grabbed its head and pushed it on its neck until its vertebrae twisted and broke.

He grabbed an arm and pulled it, the flesh tearing and the bone breaking, and he ripped it out of the socket. He mutilated, breaking limbs and tearing lumps of flesh with his bare hands, until there were more broken shapes than bodies about to revive.

And something almost blasted across the room.

By miracle, he managed to remain standing, half deaf, not understanding what was happening and the anger withdrew as he felt the cool air of outside caress his skin. He finally realized what was going on before even seeing the woman right outside the beautiful hole in the wall that once welcomed a door.

He saw Mallory, his mouth open and his lips moving, looking ridiculous until he understood the man was actually talking. Calling his name. And pointing to the wonderful opening.

Whose borders were starting to grow back, organically as if it was some living thing and not stone.

Lucas ran at full speed, stepping on some idiotic pale things but not letting them slow him down. He more or less collided with Mallory who didn't run quickly enough and he pushed him outside by the sheer momentum. They came hurtling into the stairs and into the streets, Silva almost falling down.

And something else followed them.

Lucas had just left the threshold of this house of madness and the world became clear again. He turned around, putting all his weight into his kick and he felt its bones grinding up as he knocked it down. The pale man tried to stand up but couldn't move, writhing in pain.

It was vulnerable now that it wasn't in its home. Now, wasn't that simply terrible ?

Lucas kicked it in the face and didn't stop, pure fury making him stronger, until what passed for its face turned into bloody mush. Until he felt it die, until he felt its life flow into his, fueling his strength.

He wanted more.

The wall was closed again, leaving the monsters with the remains of their preys, and preventing him from dragging them outside and obliterating everyone of them.

Of course, there were other preys.

« Lucas, » Mallory called carefully.

Some voice inside Lucas tried to make him calm again, to leave this state where everything was simple. But others things were far louder. He could feel their heartbeat, hear their blood singing in their veins.

Silva was the closest.

Mallory ran. He passed by Lucas and disappeared in an alley and Lucas watched him, forcing himself to stay perfectly still. Lucas' throat was on fire and his whole body wanted to move, loathing how he was motionless.

He knew Mallory was acting as a target, that he ran because Lucas' instinct screamed to follow.

But he also knew that if he let some time to flee to Mallory, he could almost pretend it was a hunt and the beast living inside Lucas liked to play.

 

*

 

The two men were in the backseat of the car as Silva drove away from the crime scene.

Mallory's arm was limp, not broken but still bleeding.

There were spot of warm energy all over Lucas' body, where the numerous wounds he had barely noticed while facing the pale things had healed, leaving only the ghost of pain behind them. Pure energy pulsed though him, keeping him sharp and ready. Also keeping him from being bothered by the fact he was almost eaten alive, or by the violence of this night. Lucas was in perfect shape.

He felt sick, a sickness that had infiltrated his very being and it was what kept him going. People like him could go on forever, ignoring the traumas and despair that slayed everyone else. He didn't like to think about it but it was difficult with the marvelous taste in his mouth.

They were heroes, those who hunted the monsters. Once upon a time, people had begged for protectors and the Depths had granted their wishes, giving people like him. Stronger, faster, able to kill anything that could die.

Few realized how close the Valentines were to the ones they slayed.

His employer didn't say anything, looking almost bored. The only signs he was thinking about his near-death experience, the one in the restaurant, were in the way he gently touched Lucas. Mallory needed to assure himself Lucas was alright and Lucas let him. Touching someone after this hell of a night was far from uncomfortable.

Lucas had almost used Duke as a driver tonight. If Duke had been there, there would have been no explosives because Silva was the only one with this charming habit. Nothing to get them out of there. They were alive because Lucas hasn't been in the mood to hear Duke's chatting.

« Silva ? » he called.

« Yes, sir ? »

« Did I ever tell you how glad I was to have you on my team ? »

« No, but please, don't refrain yourselves, » she smiled.

Mallory was checking his phone. They hadn't noticed how there was no signal in the restaurant and missed calls were now notified. No signal, no back-up, it had been a trap where noone could get in or out.

« They let their emissary get killed so we wouldn't be suspicious, » he realized.

« I am aware, » Mallory said.

« What do we do? » Silva asked.

« We have to go back to our base, this is the most protected place we have in this town. We have to protect our own tonight. »

« And tomorrow ? »

Mallory didn't even take the time to think about it.

« Tomorrow ? We go to war. »

Silva looked at Lucas via the rear-viewed mirror.

« So be it, » he confirmed.

She nodded and breathed deeply : « I am afraid I have other bad news. »

Fucking of course.

« The remnant striked again but not at the university. At the outskirts of the town. Whole buildings were affected. »

Mallory listened to his voicemails and worry washed over his face but Lucas' ears were still too damaged to listen in. He gulped down and turn to Lucas.

« Check your missed calls. »

He did.

« Lucas ? Mathilda called, her mother didn't come home and she's scared, » Riley was saying. « Can you send someone quickly ? In the meantime, I am going to her place. If there is noone here in a hour, the kid can sleep in my college room. »

Amanda was nervous around other people so Lucas had accepted to let her alone in an apartment as long as she swore not to contact anyone for now. They had placed them in a apartment block. At the outskirts of town.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You see this chapter? It's a monster that tried to kill me. I have a love-hate relationship with this chapter and I am half-convinced it tried to kill me by wearing me down.
> 
> Please, tell me what you thought about it!
> 
> Btw, for those who recognized the lyrics in the summaries, it's indeed The devil within from Digital Daggers, which is a perfect song for the remnant.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No good deed goes unpunished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: beating in the second part.

 

Riley had spent the last year thinking she had a job waiting for her as soon as she got her degree and losing this position had thrown her into an incredible mess. Finding a job that would allow her to live was a challenge she had to overcome so her life wouldn't be ruined.

She was specifying the ''allowed to live'' part because somehow, there were unpaid internships. Some employers didn't see a problem with working for free but expected their slaves to love it and to be dedicated to their jobs. For a time, she daydreamed about going to one of these interviews and ''talked'' her way to the boss to explain what she thought about it.

Her phone rang, shattering the sweet images her mind played for her. She took the call, expecting Lucas or Mallory. Instead, Mathilda Frozen was calling her.

There was always one Mathilda in her contacts that adored Elsa.

« Yes ? »

There wasn't any noise at the other end of the line, not even the sound of breathing Riley could have associated with a prank. She was about to talk again when the line was cut off.

That wasn't weird at all.

It was late for a nine-year-old but maybe she had been playing with her phone and accidentally called Riley. Mathilda was at that age where phones were a wonderful toy and she obviously collected phone numbers like other kids collected pokemons.

When she called Mathilda back, the child answered immediately with a coy « Yes ? », surprise in her voice.

« Mathilda, it's Riley ? Are you alright ? »

She was ready to hear a affirmative answer and to call it a day but sometimes, a day was bad until the end.

« My mum didn't come home and I am alone, » the kid explained.

« I see. Do you have her number ? »

« I have her old number but not the new one. »

Just her luck.

« Alright. I am going to call Lucas to see if he has it. I have to hang up but I will call back soon, ok ? »

« Ok. »

Proving that this was definitively not her day, noone answered. She left a voicemail and a text for Lucas, and she did the same for Mallory as she was getting more and more annoyed. From what she knew, they had a whole organization they could rely on and she couldn't get in touch with anyone when there was a situation involving one of their protégés. Typical.

She closed her laptop and put her shoes on. Her night was ruined anyway.

« Mathilda, they aren't answering. There must be no signal where they are or something. »

The silence took a terrified tone at the other end of the line.

« So text me your adress, I will keep you campany until your mother comes home, » she finished.

Mathilda's discreet sight of relief confirmed Riley was well-inspired.

« Do you think something happened to my mum ? » the child asked.

« This wouldn't be my first idea. Her phone could be out of battery and that's why she couldn't call to tell you she would be late. There is also a lot of traffic in this town and maybe that's why she's late. »

« Maybe... »

She was starting to convince her, maybe because Riley was an adult and so Mathilda trusted her, maybe because the child preferred to believe that.

« Eitherway, I will leave as soon as I have your address so we can wait for her together. »

« But won't that bother you ? »

Yes, she didn't even want to get up, so driving to wherever in town greatly annoyed her. The only reason why she had decided to do it was because Mathilda was scared and she didn't like to think about someone waiting anxiously all-alone, with no distraction to their dark thoughts.

« Don't be ridiculous, » she laughed instead.

And with these untruths, Riley reassured a scared child and she left as soon as she received the text.

She had no idea of what she was supposed to do. She didn't know how to interact with children, and if Amanda didn't come back this night, she had no way to find her. She called Mallory and Lucas again as she drove, but her calls stayed unanswered.

If this continued, she would have to call the police. Involving them might not be the best idea if what Echo said was true and that Lucas had indeed intervened to protect someone with a special ability. Did the police had a way to deal with that ? But the closer she got, the more it appeared as the only option. She would explain why Amanda had to flee, that she had asked Lucas' help, how he appeared to be one of her friend. A normal version of what was happening.

Riley would have to work on the details during the night.

She arrived to an apartment block. Pretty new and in a good zone, but not lightened enough for her tastes. She parked her car and let the cold roam around her as she got out. It spread, swirling around her like an affectionate pet, eager to protect her.

Despite it, she heard the car before she felt the driver.

She heard the screams of the tires as the car accelerated, she saw the black mass of the car with no headlights coming straight at her, and she knew there was no way she could leave the road in time. No way she could avoid what was going to happen.

The world came to a halt as the geist surged forward, screaming. It crashed into the light, pounding at it to destroy its resistance and snuff it before it was too late. But in the meanwhile, doing nothing to stop the several tons of metal rushing at her.

 _I am dead,_ she realized, _and there is nothing I can do to avoid it._

Something broke inside her, a little thing, but akin to a breach in the wall of a dam.

The cold and darkest place inside her became a force, and for a moment, she channeled the full wrathful might of it. It took everything she had on its wake and agony drowned her, burning her from the inside.

Raw power rammed the car.

That was the last thing Riley felt as the void welcomed her back.

 

*

The world was glacial around Samuel but that didn't matter for he was strong. He felt the splinters of ice piercing his skin but their stings weren't enough to bother him. He moved a little, even if he already knew he wasn't hurt despite the crash. His bones were as solid as stone and his skin was an armor.

He tried to open the door but the shock of the abrupt stop had damaged. it He pushed for a time, until he understood it was less broken than melded into another form. He focused strength into his his fist, like his father had taught him when he was a child. His whole hand hardened without looking any different and he started pounded until he ripped the cardoor from its hinges with a shrieking sound. He finally managed to get out of what was left from his car.

The things he did for family. He would do anything for his daughter and his wife. He would protect them from anyone, even from themselves if that was what it took.

He paused for a brief moment when he saw the front of his car. He knew the SUV was done for. He would have thought that such an expensive vehicle could bear more damages but it was just a car. However, he didn't suspect how wrecked and crushed it was, as if it had run into a wall. A big one.

He glared at the girl lying on the pavement. She was still, except for the slight shivering that spread on her skin, as if she wanted to move but couldn't.

The girl that had came to watch him get beaten by the Valentine. Who was laughing now ?

He would have thought that someone working for Lucas would have been tougher but maybe the rumors were true. Maybe the half-breed that Mallory was really insisted on not taking those who had the trueblood and chose errors instead. What a freaking disgrace.

« You fresh meat ruined my car, » he said.

She didn't move. Didn't even seem to hear him. Samuel was smelling blood and something else, something wintery and shadowed that he didn't recognize. But with the surreal cold that surrounded him, he could guess that she had some mental power. Unfortunately for her, a little witch was no match for a giant.

He went to her and grabbed her by the throat. She was awake but her dark eyes, while open, were looking through him, her mouth slightly open.

Did he break Lucas' pet ?

He remembered how she had watched as Lucas was beating him, her cold eyes on him, unbothered. As if he was nothing.

He regretted not using his hands to beat her until she submitted. Using a car was unrefined for him but he had thought someone like Lucas would come.

« Where is my daughter ? » he asked.

Samuel liked to hunt, to follow a prey until whoever had provoked his anger understood he couldn't do anything against him. He liked to remind the truth, to rip away the arrogance of the people around him. But only those who deserved it. He wasn't a monster. He only taught why fear was a good thing.

His wife had refused to answer. He had found her as she was heading back to whatever rock she was supposed to hide under. He had offered to forgive her, for he understood she sometimes overreacted. Even now, Samuel knew it wasn't her fault. Ungifted people were born weak and unstable.

But Amanda was actually something else. She was a nasty piece of work that had decided to steal his daughter away from him, and wasn't even sorry about it.

His fingers squeezed around the girl's neck as he thought about it.

« Where is my daughter ? » he repeated.

She didn't answer, still limp in his hand.

He slapped her. He slapped her again and again as she didn't react, waiting for her to acknowledge his presence and she refused. So he continued until her lips were bloodied and her face red from the repeated blows.

When he kept hitting her, he understood she probably couldn't answer. But that bitch had watched while Lucas hit him. Enjoyed it why he was humiliated.

Anger choked Samuel.

He punched her and she crashed on the ground with a pathetic sound. But Samuel was not seeing her anymore. He was seeing Amanda, or at least someone like her. Ungrateful, useless, weak.

He grabbed her by the hair, forcing her to stand, so he could look at her ruined face. He could have been happy about it, happy knowing she would wear his mark for weeks, but anger burned him from within. The fact that someone like her existed was unbearable.

So he grabbed her by the throat and squeezed so she would be gone.

And at the same time, Samuel realized something huge hovered around him. Something that was furious but that he couldn't see, only guess. He could feel the shards of ice he had ignored. They were now under his skin, everywhere inside him as they dug deeper.

The girl was looking at him for the first time, her fingers sinking into the flesh of his wrist. She wasn't strong enough to hurt him, but somehow, he could feel the hurt ache into his bones where her fingertips rested. Her face was bruised, one of her eyes was half-closed, but their color had changed. Deep dark blue, and nothing human behind them.

For the first time in his life, Samuel felt vulnerable.

  


*

  


A blow to the head was strange, for it didn't so much hurt as stun. It left you unable to do anything for a second because you were unable to think, but pain didn't really register. Unless Riley couldn't feel it because it was nothing next to the sea of pain she was drowning in.

However the cold was beyond thoughts and more famished that it had ever been. Except for one time maybe, three months ago. It rose inside her, making her shake, propulsing itself to her throat and stopping right below her jaws as it waited to be freed, waiting for her to give it the push it needed. A furious thing fighting to get out and inflict damages on anything, a mass of pain, anger and sadness that her body wanted to get out of her system before it gnawed her from the inside.

She didn't think she had any strength left but she saw it, her hope, her saving grace. The warmth Samuel gave off was so beautiful in the winter she was trapped that she wanted to cry. She reached it before she was destroyed by her own geist, pulling it toward her.

And she ran into a resistance unlike everything she had ever seen. If she forced the door when she unleashed the geist, this time, she was confronted to an armored wall. She could feel the fire behind it, what she needed not to be broken everywhere anymore.

Samuel wanted to hurt her. She wanted to live. Will against will, and as stubborn as that man was, he didn't stand a chance against her.

The geist punched through his shield, starting to crack it. Samuel threw her on his car to keep her away but space didn't matter for her. She pierced through him, her will a blade he couldn't escape.

She breached the wall that kept her from his core and snatched the whole glorious light, something beautiful and complex, wonderful to each of her strange senses.

So she smashed it to pieces.

Because she could.

She ripped apart everything that made Samuel who he was, the reckless destruction giving her even more power and she seized every wisps of light, everything of his life and he watched as he was unable to do anything to prevent it.

When Samuel died, it was a mercy.

_And it was far from enough._

It was barely enough to soothe the pain that was blazing inside her. _She needed more._

_The cold spread around her, seeking any source of warmth, and Riley felt how it was everywhere, in the air, in the plants, in the lighting of the streets, where there was life or energy. She pulled it to her, feeding on it. The streets plunged into total darkness around her but she didn't pay attention, not when there was more heat not far away. Residual heat was good to fill her usual hunger but the void clawing at her insides required something with more spark._

_And she was right in front of hundreds of them, sleeping in their box of concrete._

_She got off the hood of the car, forcing her broken body to move along her wishes, the heat already answering to her call as the geist extented, lunging at everything she needed._

  


*

  


_She was the only cold thing in a blazing world, but as she passed by, the world got colder. Something pushed her to continue, not to stop, the echo of a memory, and, so she kept walking until she was too tired to care about it._

  


_*_

  


_They didn't understand what was happening when they dropped one by one. They felt a push of the cold, like a storm come to life, and then they were no more. They just had the time to see the one that had just entered and they died one by one, killed by something they couldn't comprehend._

_One of them pushed through, running through the blizzard, and knew he was facing a monster. Knew he had what it took to put an end to it._

_She managed to feel sorry when he died, the gun still in his hand. She didn't meant to give him false hopes._

  


*

  


Riley was sound asleep. The kind of sleep only children managed to obtain, when they were still innocent and thought nothing could reach them. Before life chewed them and spat them back with the newfound knowledge they weren't safe.

When she opened her eyes, she was laying on a mattress placed on the floor. She hadn't been so rested in years. And she hadn't felt so bad in her entire life.

She wanted to cry but couldn't, she was hurt but wasn't wounded. She just hurt in her mind, raw anguish having spread inside her while she wasn't careful. Millions of thoughts were swirling inside her head, about her the night before, about the day in school when Lewis had brought a gun, her parents, Alexia, and fear kept reminding her how bad the situation was.

It was as if a lid had been removed to reveal everything she couldn't usually see. Every emotion that usually didn't reach her as the geist stood between them and her. Now that the cold wasn't omnipresent anymore, they were back with a revenge.

And others things. The bad was at the surface but lighter and more beautiful things were waiting for her. Things half-forgotten like how to care and feel alive instead of merely existing. So she welcomed the pain, the white fury and the misery, because it was only one side of the coin. It was the proof she was alive.

She started moving, her mind a maelstrom of loud emotions but she just had to remember how to live with them. She felt no presence in the house she didn't recognize, so she thought it was abandoned. Until she reached the stairs.

She found a woman, fallen on the stairs as she had tried to flee. Riley passed by her, unable to look as the cold was trying to come back and protect her from what she had done.

She didn't let it. Even when she found the dead man looking at her. Probably at the woman actually, but it didn't change the fact that his lightless eyes were pointed in her direction, looking straight at her.

She looked for more of her victims.

She counted six of them.

When she made sure there weren't more, when she admitted that they were dead because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time, she stopped banishing the cold and she let it take everything away.

She needed to keep moving.

  


  


  


  


  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am in the middle of a beautiful writer block. Inspiration and will to write are capricious mistresses.  
> I hope you like the new chapter, and if you do, don't hesitate to reach out. :)


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I will be here when you think you're all alone.

 

**Saturday**

  


The night shift must have been more exhausting that what Riley thought, because the cashier barely registered her presence when she entered in the store at 6 a.m. He greeted her and put himself back on standby. Riley waited for him to notice that something was wrong, and when he didn't, went shopping.

The cashier, Glenn, yelped when he took a look at her as she was giving him the items she wanted to purchase. There was a reason why tissues were on the top of the pile.

« Don't worry, the blood is mine, » she assured.

It left him speechless but not for long.

« That's what worries me ! What happened to you ? Do I call the police ? »

Riley was about to rub her nose but remembered why that was a bad idea. Her fingers still came back tainted with reddish brown. Dry blood.

« I got some crazy nosebleeds sometimes. Guess that's not my day, » she explained.

Glen looked at her as if she was insane. Which had nothing to to with the situation.

« I am sorry to bother you but do you have a bathroom I could use ? »

« Miss, are you... » he started to ask before realizing he didn't have the slightest idea of what to ask.

Riley couldn't keep herself from smiling.

« Seriously, I am fine. I need these things, » she pushed the items toward him, « because I am heading to somewhere and I can't stop at my place to clean myself up. If that pauses a problem, please tell me now. »

« There is a bathroom right here. It's no problem, » he assured awkwardly.

She paid in cash for the tissues, the bottle of water, the dried meat, the dark blue cap and the burner phone. For some reason, all of this didn't seem to reassure him. She thanked him with a sweet smile and left for the bathroom.

Glenn reached for his phone as she was leaving, unaware she was watching him via the mirror on the wall. The world suddenly became only light and shadows, heat and cold, at different scales. And Glenn was absolutely glowing.

She ignored him easily for she wasn't hungry. Instead, she reached the little spark of the phone, focusing on it. It wasn't what the geist wanted, but she did and her will was absolute. She snuffed the bit of energy and the lights of the stores flickered as the phone turned off.

Baffled, the cashier turned around and saw her, looking at him with a smile so sweet and blood all over her face like the situation was perfectly normal. He slowly put her phone on the counter and she winked at him, before disappearing into the bathroom.

Frightening someone who had done nothing wrong would have been a new low for her three days ago, but now, it was a drop in the ocean. She couldn't allow him to contact anyone. Lucas could learn where she was.

If Lucas had decided to kill a remnant for three victims, it was easy to guess what would happen to her now that at least six people were dead.

Riley looked at her reflection for the first time since she woke up. Her face was covered in blood, just as she suspected, but not only because of her bloody nose. There were drops of blood on her forehead, her cheeks and her jaws, but no cut underneath. She cleaned herself with a wet tissue and confirmed that she wasn't wounded anymore. Her nose felt tender but still at its place and no different, even if she knew Samuel had almost flattened it.

She realized how fine she looked. Not in a beautiful-all-along way, but the dark circles that had settled permanently under her eyes a few years ago were gone, her skin was clear, and she looked well-rested. The strain she didn't realized she was carrying was gone and she felt light and strong.

And stronger she was. She had felt her bones break and her insides be set ablaze but she was now light and in perfect condition. She saw more clearly the energy around her and she was pulling it to her without thinking. And there was she had done the night before, before she killed Samuel. She remembered the energy leaving her and stopping the car before it got to her.

She looked at the bottle of water.

Time for a test.

She put it in the middle of the bathroom and went back to the door. The cold swirled around her, stronger than before, intangible shield and blade at the same time. Like the day before and the day of the shooting when a bullet had managed to be slowed down so she wouldn't be pierced by it.

The trick was to reach at the same time the warmth around her and the ice living within her, so it would form something else. She let the geist remind her of the sensation of this power, akin to a mist.

Strictly nothing happened.

She looked at it, puzzled. Feeding was an matter of instinct. She thought any other related power would be the same.

Maybe it was a life or death mechanism. Maybe there was another trick she didn't realize.

She didn't think she had the time to learn.

She activated her new phone, putting ten phone numbers into it before she took the battery and the sim card out of the old one. Lucas and Mallory had her phone number and might be able to find her with it.

Right before leaving, she left a fifty dollars tip for Glenn and walked out of the stores to the streets she didn't recognize. She was far away from the address Mathilda had given her and her car had been nowhere in sight when she had left the house she had slept in.

A bus brought her to the park and she sat on a bench to watch the ducks. A perfect empty place to think about what she was going to do next.

She sighted and raised her face so she could enjoy the sunshine on her skin.

There was a reason why monsters always end up killed at the end of the stories. Poking someone in a specific situation was easy, fighting for her life as she was hunted down would be hell. Last night had revealed she needed time to break through the soul and someone like Lucas wouldn't play with her like Samuel did. The geist would never had the occasion to heal her.

_You need more to survive._

« If you think I won't rip you out of me, you're wrong, » she said outloud. « It's only a matter of time. »

The only question was : when will it stop ?

The geist simmered and it whispered something she blocked.

Feeding at the source had made her stronger. She had spent years pushing back the hunger, pretending she was alright despite it, but it had taken its toll on her. Now it was gone and here she was, power rushing through her, beating with her heart, flowing in her veins.

If someone came at her, she would not go gentle into the night. She would fight and inflict enough damages to live forever in the survivors' memories. They could kill her, she wasn't as strong as she used to think, but she could make sure there would be no winner.

Or she could go around and feed more, like she had done that night. Kill more so their life would feed her strength until she was untouchable.

She breathed deeply, letting the pure air fill her lungs.

It was her choice.

No one was around. It was only her, the cold inside her, and the nature around her. So she listened again. The whispers became furious, whirlwind of emotion and purpose, a mix of instinct and reactions. There was no word, no sentence, but she understood it all the same.

« No one knows what you are. They use beautiful words to describe your kind, but no one has the answer I was looking for, » she told it.

She didn't need to talk to be heard but choosing carefully the words helped. Intent was what she needed. She had left herself be pushed around by the circumstances.

_You need power to survive. To be safe._

« You're the only threat. »

_Stay alive. You need to stay alive._

« You made me into a murderer. It was always going to happen. Someday, the hunger would have been too strong and I would have killed to survive. That sorry excuse of a human being only made it happen sooner. »

She had fancied herself as a protector these days. As someone who could help, who could stand between another monster and everyone else. But she was a predator. She could fight another one like her but that didn't mean the others were safe with her.

« You backed me into a corner. If I want to stay on board, I have to feed so I won't be destroyed. And the more I feed, the more I kill, the more I will be threatened by those who hunt monsters like me. »

_I will keep you safe. I will keep you strong and give you everything you've ever wished for._

She laughed.

« Yeah, but I used to have everything I wanted. »

She turned on her new phone and called the only person who had been honest with her.

« Echo, » she answered immediately despite the early hour.

« It's Riley. »

« Riley ! How are you ? »

She didn't expect to find her so worried.

« I need help. »

Echo immediately understood.

« Whenever you're ready. »

Good. Sometimes, the only way to win a game was to stop playing.

  


  


  


  


  


  


 


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can't make me disappear.

Hesitation had killed more people than anything else in the world. How many times could a carnage have been avoided if someone had taken action ? Despite what most people thought, mistakes weren't made because someone didn't know right from wrong. It was because they didn't dare to oppose themselves to the group and others paid the price for their inaction.

If Lucas had killed Riley, back in this hospital room, countless of people wouldn't be hurt today. Whole buildings of people that had thought they were dying as their life was pulled out of them by the simple presence of something that had no mercy.

Half a dozen of people wouldn't be dead.

« We came here to get rid of a remnant, » Lucas reminded Mallory.

« It was before a whole cabal declared a war on us, » he said calmly.

As he sat at a metal table, Mallory was peeling an apple as if he was taking his breakfast back at his apartment instead of talking with his second in a warehouse, one of the properties he owned. Mallory had bought it himself and not via the cabal so his employees wouldn't know about it. Dressed in a black suit pants and a black shirt with rolled up sleeves, his outfit let see his arm and the lack of wound in the inside of his elbow, where Lucas had hurt him last night in the red haze brought by the bloodlust.

« Riley is alone and she doesn't want to hurt us. Only to survive her mistakes, » Mallory said while he cut the fruit into pieces. « Focus on the ones who tried to kill us, please. »

« Thank you but I will be focusing on both. »

Mallory rolled his eyes but couldn't contain a smile.

Loud thumps resonated from inside the trunk Lucas sat on. The dark-haired man barely acknowledged it and hit the car once with the palm of his hand. It stopped.

Priorities. It was a matter of priorities.

Riley was the most dangerous one and as far as Lucas was concerned, she had made her bed. She had made a deal with something she couldn't control, and people were hurt because she had bitten off more than she could chew. And letting someone walk away with a deal with a remnant was a bad example to encourage.

But the cabal of Boston had tried to kill his friend. There was no going back and they would try to eliminate them all to survive their butchered attempt of murder.

They had tried to kill Mallory.

Lucas knew who was the priority but he also knew who he wanted to kill more.

He just needed to find them.

He got off his car, actually one of the organization, a standard black SUV. Sturdy, able to survive Lucas' driving and it had enough room to contain four travel bags. Mallory didn't like to drive but he knew his cars.

The two men laying inside were tied up and gagged, and wordlessly screamed as Lucas opened the trunk. They froze as soon as they recognized him.

« I am sorry for taking this long, » Lucas smiled. « You called ? »

Calvin was an African-American man, twenty-five years old maybe and Lucas knew he looked his age. He was a victim of opportunity, at the wrong place at the right time, to Lucas' delight.

Wilson was the target. A blond man in his forties that Lucas had always seen wearing a suit. He was a freelance agent that reached people who could help each other, a link between paranoid and gifted people. Ungifted as far as Lucas knew but not having a peculiar condition did not mean he could not pose a threat.

Lucas grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him outside the car, holding his dead weight at the strength of the wrist until he dropped him on the chair at the other end of the table. At no point did the agent tried to move.

Lucas cut his restraints and Wilson sat casually on the chair, removing the gag as the beginning of a smile was appearing on his face.

« Mr. Mallory. » He rubbed his wrists to restore blood circulation. « What a pleasure to see you ! »

Mallory smiled too, the same smile but it didn't reach his far colder eyes.

« An unexpected pleasure, I guess, » he noticed as he put his half eaten apple and the knife he had used on the table. « I was supposed to die in the lovely meeting you arranged for us. »

Wilson briefly looked at the knife on the plate before giving up on this idea.

« I learned about it this morning. I had no idea, Mr. Mallory. You know my reputation is everything for me. »

Lucas went back to the car and closed the trunk under Calvin's offended exclamation. But the young man had tried to tase him right after Lucas had said he didn't want to hurt him and to drop the damn thing, so now, he could wait in the trunk.

« Why would I betray you ? » Wilson asked. « It simply doesn't make any sense. »

Mallory listened his every words while eating a slice of apple.

« I understand this is grave and you have to act back but please, don't be rash, » Wilson said. « I am not the enemy. »

Mallory nodded. « This is an excellent advice, » he admitted. « But let me reassure you, we are not here so I can sic Lucas on you to get revenge. We are here to talk. »

Wilson smiled, relieved.

« About the payment you received after you called me to talk me about my former potentials clients, » Mallory continued.

The agent almost jumped on the knife but it was already in Mallory's hand. The almost blunt blade pierced Wilson's palm and the table underneath.

Wilson screamed then sobbed and Mallory gave him the time to deal with it, unbothered. He glanced at Lucas to see if everything was alright but the dark-haired man knew something like this would happen as soon as Mallory dropped his name in the conversation. They had their own codes to warn each other.

« Back in my days, everyone had a knife, » Mallory explained to Wilson. « But times have changed. »

He took another slice of apple while the smell of blood was spreading through the air. Salt and iron.

« Make no mistake, this is a good thing, » Mallory assured. « Progress is always a good thing. But sometimes, we lose things along the way. Like loyalty. The idea of atonement when you make a stupid mistake. Let this be a reminder. »

Wilson was obviously too busy talking incoherently to meditate on this, his fingers near the blade but he didn't dare to touch it. Mallory took pity and pulled it out under a new muffled scream.

Lucas' phone rang. Unknown caller. Well, he wasn't needed here anymore.

« Let's start to mend our broken bonds. I want everything you know on them. »

Lucas showed the phone to Mallory and went to take the call outside. There was only one exit Wilson could try to take and that Lucas had to guard. Mallory was a good fighter, knew how to shoot, but unfortunately wasn't a sprinter.

« Lucas. »

« It's Riley. »

He wasn't even surprised. Of course she would call without a care in the world.

« Hi Riley. I have your car. I am tired to pick up your stuffs where you leave them. »

She paused for a long time.

« Riley ? » he called her.

« Is Mathilda alive ? » she asked.

« Traumatized, completely lost, like all the people your remnant was close to, but she is safe for now. »

Remnants usually took their time to eat, pulling the maximum of pain until they were satisfied, and that was the reason why the police wasn't involved. There was no explanation and random mental distress had no probable cause for most people. It had stopped and they would get better with time. And they would never forget that one night when everything has lost its meaning for a little eternity.

Six people weren't so lucky.

« I see, » she finally said. « That's partly why I am calling. I might have found a way to get rid of the remnant. My remnant. I won't be able to help anymore. If you need any information, I will be happy to oblige but that will be all. »

« You found a way to break your contract ? » he asked, unable to believe what he was hearing.

« Maybe, » she answered but Lucas could hear the hope in her voice.

« And to be normal again ? » he wanted to confirm.

« That would be the point. »

If Mallory had listened to this phonecall, he would be refraining from screaming like a lunatic in sheer horror. There was a reason why most people called these abilities gift. Wanting to get rid from something so powerful was akin to blasphemy for most people in the known.

But Lucas ? Lucas was just jealous.

« You will be normal. You survived because you weren't. »

« Yes, I did. But living is more than surviving. »

Lucas closed his eyes and refused to think about it. Not because he couldn't understand it but because it came too close to home.

Once, his clan had promised they would have everything they wanted after ten years of service. Ten years to serve the clan and the clan would pay back. No one bothered to explain to the young Valentines that there was a point where they couldn't go back, where the beast would change them forever.

Lucas had looked like a twenty-five-years-old for more than a decade now and he now knew his blood wouldn't let him age more. That meant no family, no place in the regular society. Only the clan.

And that was also why he had told them to go fuck themselves.

« If you're normal, you're not in my juridiction. »

She immediately understood what that meant.

« Thank you. »

They wouldn't have to go after a remnant. His team would be safe. Riley would be a regular human being, the worst punishment for most of their society, everything Lucas would have wanted a few years ago. Either way, it wouldn't be his problem anymore.

But one last thing.

« We didn't find Amanda, » he said. « Did Samuel say anything about her ? »

« No. Not a word. »

Damn it.

 

*

  


Rachel touched her forehead to see if she had a fever but she was only tired. She needed a nap before she passed out on her feet but she couldn't, not when Alexia needed her. Every day, people came to her house to take care of her daughter, and every day, Rachel managed to see more of her little girl.

Slowly, she was getting her daughter back.

She heard the phone ringing in the other room. She got up, abandoning her computer, and went and took it. She was puzzled for a moment when she didn't recognize the number. She knew each of them in her contacts, for her memory was one of her pride.

« Yes ? »

« Ms. Steward ? It's Riley. »

Rachel couldn't help a smile when she heard Riley's voice. She was her best friend's daughter, and she had been here for her during those three months.

« My name is still Rachel, sweetheart. »

« Right... I am sorry to bother you so I will be quick. I need to know how Alexia is. »

Rachel's smile grew wider.

« She is much better. She recognizes me when I enter the room. I can see the emotions on her face when I talk to her. She isn't here yet, but you can see that the wall that separates us is getting thinner. »

« That's good, » the student said and Rachel could hear her smile in her voice.

« You can come and see her if you want. I am sure she would be happy about that, even if she can't really show it now. »

« I... » she hesitated. « I can't come now, but soon, if you will allow it. »

« You're always welcome in my house. »

There was a long pause at the other end of the line.

« Thank you, Rachel. Really, you have no idea how I appreciate that. »

« Aww, honey ! Don't worry about that. I hope to see you soon ! »

Rachel looked at the phone after Riley hanged up, wondering what was happening. Then, she remembered it was no business of her. She had told Riley what she wanted to know, and she hoped it was enough to make her happy.

Rachel went and saw her daughter. She was sitting in a rocking chair in the garden, a blanket around her so she wouldn't catch a cold. She had lost weight in the last three months and her skin was too pale as she wasn't going out anymore.

But she looked peaceful instead of hollow. Her eyes were closed as if she had simply fallen asleep.

Rachel caressed her daughter's cheek and found the skin warm. Her daughter was alive, she was just far away.

She hugged her, containing tears. Everything would be alright.

Rachel went back to work, still tired but she was giving herself an hour before she went and rested. She had trouble to sleep when the dog wasn't here, having fallen asleep to the sound of his antics for ten years. But her husband had dropped him at his sister's place.

Somehow, the dog hadn't stopped barking at Alexia for a few days.

 

*

 

The geist was screaming inside her, bouncing on the bars of the cage in Riley's mind as it tried to get out.

Riley didn't show anything. No one could have guessed the discomfort growing to become pain or the absolute concentration it required. Not even Echo noticed as she was explaining what they would do to get her out of the influence of the geist.

Getting rid of a remnant was impossible for now but hiding someone from it was within range of their current knowledge. The same way Mallory and Lucas were hidden from her senses, except she needed something a little more permanent. A sigil engraved on her skin.

As she explained, Echo showed her the black tattoos on her arm, climbing back up her shoulder and continuing on her chest to disappear under her shirt. Hers would just be one sigil, where she wanted.

As Riley understood, the geist screamed and screamed.

The payment was a tale of how she became what she was.

She loathed the mere idea of revealing to anyone her weaknesses. She was strong. That was her motto, the thing she repeated to convince herself. Revealing out loud how false it was was maddening. That was the actual price she had to pay : the truth.

Riley warned Echo from the beginning that her story would be disappointing. There was nothing special in her past, for Riley was not an interesting person but something interesting had happened to her. There was nothing more about it.

No darkness inside her. Just a normal girl with loving parents and few but true friends. It had come to her without any warning, so she had not realized something was deeply wrong.

She always had anxiety. She had learned to live with the doubts and the exhaustion it brought. So when something akin to depression had come, she had treated it the same way. Pretended everything was alright and she had been determined to cure it with denial and distractions.

It only lasted for a time. It had grown within her until she couldn't contain it. It had turned her into something else. Something colder and harsher. She had learned to let it out to survive, learned to choose her preys.

Because if people couldn't be worthy of her pain, they could be worthy of her hunger.

So, no. There was no pact, or at least, none she were aware of.

Echo dutifully wrote down everything she said.

She asked questions, and Riley carefully answered, taking her time to explain. A promise was sacred as far as she was concerned and she always did her best to keep them. Which might be why she rarely gave her word.

By the time they were done, the geist had gone crazy inside her, trying to slash its way outside her mind. She had to focus to put a foot in front of the other and she dragged herself to the other room. Echo was hovering over her, now conscious something was wrong.

« Do you need help ? » she asked and she was about to take her arm but Riley flinched. The mere idea of someone touching her was suddenly unbearable.

« Don't worry. »

_You should._

A very polite man whose arms were covered in colored tattoos was waiting in the other room, playing with needles and inking materials. He smiled at her, nervous, and apologized because he prefered not to give her his name.

_They will kill you as soon as you're weak. Let me out._

She barely noticed the man as ice was rushing through her and was burning within each of her cells. Something was angry at her. By the time Riley managed on the chair, back to him, she could barely see anything.

_LET ME OUT._

The tattoo artist showed her the sigil he was about to engrave on her skin, before explaining that it would unfortunately hurt more than a regular tattoo.

The geist did a good job to distract her. She clenched her jaws and went to her happy place as it punctured her from the inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	17. Chapter 17

 

**Sunday**

  


The world had colors again. The yellow warmth of the sun. The vibrant green of the grass but different from the cooling color of the leaves. The white of the smiles when people saw her. The people themselves, skins from white to dark brown, hair with every color known under the sun, and clothes carefully chosen for some, or the first thing someone had grabbed in the morning for the others.

The world was vibrant while it had only been variations of light and dark the day before.

Riley took a sip of her coffee. Actually, there was probably more sugar than coffee here but that was how she liked it. She had woken up smiling this morning, just plainly happy. No whispers, no words she couldn't quite hear but always understood in the back of her mind. And no agonizing pressure on her soul. Just blessed silence.

She flinched as a waiter passed next to her. She would need to get used to the absence of spider senses. She actually had to pay attention to her surroundings and it was... Tiring. She had sought asylum into a quiet restaurant with wi-fi where people could work on their computer, pretending they were social individuals that weren't afraid to go out when they were actually grumpy goblins like her.

She knew. Misanthropes recognized each other.

She looked around and established eye contact with a waiter, a young man her age with kind eyes. Just a handsome man working on a day shift, not a threat, not a potential tasty treat she had to ignore. A fellow human being, someone like her. She took off her earpieces with one hand and raised her cup with the other. He nodded and came with more coffee.

She could not believe some people felt like that everyday but she was ready to get used to it.

She leaned back on her chair a little too harshly and winced as her back reminded her she was still wounded. The black tattoo near her spine, right below her heart, was pulsing and reminded her she had accepted to be stabbed ten thousand times by a needle and that her skin would remember it for some time. She had had to sleep on her stomach during the night.

But she did not care. Because Riley could now sleep instead of laying on her bed, half in the dreams and half in the reality as she did not dare to slumber. Because she could pass near-hibernation without worrying about a geist trying to sneak up and eat a roommate, and it was pure bliss.

« Looks like someone is in a good mood. » the waiter noticed as he passed near her table.

She took off her second earpiece and smiled at him. « I am. »

« Is there a reason ? »

She thought about it, trying to find the right words. « I remembered that life was beautiful-all-along, so now, I am enjoying this rediscovery. »

The waiter seemed genuinely happy for her. « I am glad you managed to remember that », he said while pouring her more coffee.

She watched him leave, quietly happy about a human interaction. This was ridiculous, she was almost giddy now that she belonged, but she did not mind. Today was a new beginning for her, and being ridiculous now meant she could only get better.

She was about to put her hearpieces on again and keep watching her serie on her tablet when she noticed something. Someone typing furiously on her computer, as if the keyboard had managed to offend her. Riley looked closer, unsettled as she was seeing something familiar here.

  


*

  


Jenna passed a hand in her carefully braided hair, ruffling it despite all the work she had put into it. Appearance was not only a necessity for her, it was a ritual. She had to be correctly dressed, had to have a perfect make-up and perfect hair. If she failed to do so, she would be miserable the whole day. She just would not feel herself.

She needed the right conditions to be able to work. And right now, she needed to work on her essay. She needed to convince anyone who would be reading than she loved economy, than she took it seriously while managing to make it look like interesting.

She was half-way through it and since she had started this morning, she kept typing the two same sentences because something was obviously wrong in her syntax.

The truth was that Jenna was empty. There was a young woman well dressed with a perfectly applied make-up, who was sitting in front of her computer and pretended she knew perfectly what she was doing, but actually, there was nothing inside her to give.

She rubbed her eyes, trying to force some motivation into her. She needed to get this right. It was too important to screw it up like the rest of her life.

And as if on cue, something cold crept over her, grabbing her at the throat even though there was nothing and no one around her. She breathed deeply, forcing herself to calm down. She probably had a few days before she had to take care of it, right ?

_Something expensive. Something important. More than what she had offered before._

She smiled and took her laptop, opening it more.

And she smashed it on her desk. The thin computer creaked but it managed to survive the shock, so she got up, took momentum, and hit it again on the sturdy table. She kept going until the damn thing broke into two things and when it was done, she sat with her face in her hands.

There was no back up and she didn't have any other computer. That would have to do.

And as quickly as it arrived, the pressure that had just made itself known was gone.

She smiled, or at least tried to. She had made the right decision. She had complied as soon as she heard the order, sparing herself a lot of trouble. It was the wise choice. Fighting only brought pain.

She did her best not to look at what was left of her computer and all the work she had stored inside it during the year.

She had made the right decision.

And she would have to keep doing so as long as it wanted her to.

  


*

  


Riley approached the girl carefully, a little too quietly as she almost jumped on her chair when she saw her. She apologized with a smile, suddenly accurately aware of how ridiculous the situation would be if she was wrong.

The young woman in front of her had long black hair and a round face with hard eyes that softened as she recognized her.

« Are you... » she started to ask before stopping, at loss for words.

Riley simply smiled. « I looked for you. Thank you for helping me that day. »

The woman who had come at Riley's help the day Teddy Lewis had crossed the line between victim and perpetrator gave her a wide smile. She closed her laptop and tapped the seat next to her before hesitating, but Riley sat anyway.

« I don't want to bother you but I just wanted to thank you... »

« You're not bothering me ! And it was nothing, » she said quickly.

« It was. »

Modesty was supposed to be good but acknowledging good deeds was better.

Riley's savior, even if she didn't know the extent of what she did, passed a hand over her face and looked like she was blushing. Some people could not handle compliment and gratitude, and that was adorable.

« Okay, let's start again. Hi, my name is Erin. »

« Hi, my name is Riley. This is weird, right ? »

Erin vigorously nodded : « But weird makes things less boring so that can't be a bad thing. Do you come here often ? »

« Not for a long time. I used to come here with my friend because there is a cinema right outside. We used to wait for the screening here. »

Alexia could drink her weight in coffee while Riley needed to dissolve it in sugar to have the thing.

« What about you ? » Riley asked.

« I come here to write when I have the time. My place is just too noisy. »

« Writing ? »

She used to be a big reader but she had had trouble focusing on the worlds conjured by the words, so she had to slow down. Now that nothing troubled her anymore, she fully intended to get back on tracks.

« Nothing important, » Erin tried to minimize. « Just things. »

« Like fanfiction ? »

Erin smiled even more as she recognized a fellow fangirl.

« Exactly like fanfiction, » she admitted.

« What fandom ? »

She told her and Riley couldn't help the grin on her face.

« We are going to talk you and me about what happen in the last movie. »

Erin raised an eyebrow.

« What do you think I'm writing about ? »

And they became friends. Just like that.

Half an hour later, they decided to go watch a movie. They probably would have spent the whole day together if Riley didn't have to meet Rachel so she said goodbye to Erin and took the subway since her car was still missing.

She had just managed to find a seat when she wondered if Erin had just been polite with someone fragile because she was a good person and not really interested by her. If she hadn't basically hijacked her free time.

« Not now, anxiety, » she muttered under her breath with a ferocious smile.

She just had to remember not to trust the doubts that popped up in her mind. She would need a time to adapt again. If it got worse, she would get a prescription. She didn't want to let it control her life like when she was in high school.

And she needed some orange juice instead of caffeine. She was tired but if she got twitchier, people around her would set up an intervention.

Or, as she remembered, she could actually take a nap before meeting Rachel and Alexia. Because she could actually sleep for real again.

She was going to enjoy this new beginning. Between the books in her bag and all the sleep she could enjoy now, she knew it was the right decision. Even if she had to act like the mere mortals and looked both way before she crossed the street because she couldn't feel the drivers, and the cars by extension, anymore. As Erin had reminded her as she grabbed her arm before Riley had another confrontation with a car.

She didn't have the time to finish this thought when images of too still people were summoned in her mind, surprise on their faces. People who didn't have a chance against what lived inside her.

She crossed her arms and pushed back the memories and the dark thoughts the same way she used to push back her geist. She was not surprised to see that what worked for one worked for the other.

There was nothing to do for them anymore. A better person would have searched for expiation but Riley only wanted her life back and being destroyed by guilt wasn't in her plans. She would pay for it, one day, she knew it, but it was a problem she would have to deal with at the time.

« I'm paying you a compliment, » she heard despite her dark and selfish thoughts and the music in her earbuds.

There just were words that immediately drew the attention for some people. And not in a good way. Words that just unleashed adrenaline as you recognized danger.

She looked up, while turning the volume down not to hear the music anymore. The wagon was crowded and five young men were standing next to a girl, all in smiles and amused glances. One of them was holding her arm, talking in her ear and invading her space as she looked at the floor.

Riley went cold. Except it wasn't the painful cold that gave her strenght but the icy realization of the other thing she had lost.

Safety.

He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither, used to say one of her teacher. How easy it was to say for him when half of the population wasn't stronger than him.

The girl was doing her best not to look at the pack of laughing boys around her. She was really pretty, petite, with long wavy blond hair and a fair skin. She was wearing a dressed that went below the knee but exposed her cleavage and had spaghetti straps, a clothe that fitted her perfectly.

« Come on, don't be shy ! » the guy laughed.

« Leave me alone, » the girl said quietly as she tried to go away but he passed an arm around her waist, almost playfully.

« If you didn't want to the attention, why wear that ? » he laughed as if it was perfectly logical.

The girl looked around, silently begging someone to intervene and Riley opened her mouth. And stopped.

There were five of them and she couldn't protect herself anymore. If they followed her, there would be a moment when she would be alone with them. Riley was 5 feet 3 and alone, there had to be someone more qualified to help her.

Riley was afraid.

« Why don't you look at me when I'm talking to you ? You're being rude, princess. »

There were older men, women in groups, and somehow, everyone of them decided not to react and ignore the horrible issue at hand, except throwing some pity glances here and there. They were closer, better suited to help her. They couldn't not hear this.

Why was noone doing anything ?

Riley stood up and walked toward them, pushing her way when someone didn't have the decency to get out of her way. This was going to be fun. And by that, she meant terrifying.

One day. She could not have one day to herself before the world reminded her it was a terrible place.

The guy frowned as she came closer. Riley smiled and ignore their laughs and their amused looks. She even ignored how the girl in a pretty dressed looked stunned.

« She isn't interested. Why don't you stop bothering her ? » Riley proposed.

« Did I ask for your opinion ? » he pretended to think about.

« It wasn't an opinion. Let her go. »

He didn't and surged forward. She leaned back by reflex, making him laugh.

« Not so tough, » he noticed but he wasn't actually talking to her but looking at his friends who were giving her looks. As if they were embarrassed for her. « Sorry but not I'm not interested by the fat ones so why don't you... »

He made a sign as if he was sending her off.

Riley had spent her life understanding the rules to come on top of any situation, and one of them was : don't bite more than you can chew.

Rules were bullshit in practice.

Don't look for troubles. Watch what you wear. Watch where you walk. Don't walk out late. Be with friends. Watch your drinks. Don't mind the looks.

Learn to take a fucking compliment.

There was no way she was going back to being scared because the remnant wasn't with her anymore.

She grabbed the man's thumb in her whole hand and get it off the girl in the pretty dress. He tried to fight it but it was simple physics : a thumb could not be stronger than a whole hand. Riley didn't let him the time to react and pushed the girl behind her, standing between a pack of morons and someone who had the fighting instinct of a chipmunk.

_Please, universe, don't let me get killed today. Pretty please._

« What is wrong with you ? » he spat.

« The fact that you seemed to think you can assault someone. »

If they followed her when she arrived at her station, she would have to walk a long time alone since it was a Sunday. Five against one. She would at least have to take one down for decency sake.

« Where did you see an assault, you fucking bitch ? I was talking to her. »

« No, you took advantage of the fact she was too polite to make a scene to grab her and touch her. That's assault and you're a pathetic sonavabitch, » she informed him calmly.

At least on the outside. Inside, she was hysterical and she was actually getting ready to straight up murder him. He was bigger, stronger, and she couldn't allow to leave him the time to react if he raised a hand on her.

He got closer but she didn't back off this time. She stayed right where she was and stared at him.

« Leave them alone, » a tiny voice said. « There were just there and you started picking up on them. »

Riley glanced behind her and saw a kid that didn't looked reassured. Small, no more than twelve years old, and he was grabbing the straps of his backpack so hard his knuckles were white. She smiled at him, thankful.

She prefered the twelve-years-old's help over anyone here.

The man was about to say something when one of his friend in a blue shirt put a hand on his shoulder : « Dude, it's our stop. Let's go. »

He turned toward his friend, affront on his face but said nothing when he saw how his friends were looking at him. It was not funny anymore.

« Let's go, » Blue Shirt repeated before throwing an apologetic look at Riley.

Good for him but if he hoped she would be thankful for his half-assed and too late intervention, he could sit on it until he rot on the side of the road.

They left at the next stop, all of them, and the brown-haired man made a show to pass very close to her. It was okay, he could play. If he decided to touch her, she would make him regret it.

He didn't and the whole situation was over.

Riley sighted.

« Thank you, » the girl said, arms around her as if she was trying to hide herself. She must have felt so bad about a situation that was in no way her fault.

« You're welcome, » Riley smiled. « Don't let it get to you, okay ? They were the ones in the wrong. »

She turned towards the kid and her smile grew fonder. « Thank you for speaking up. It really helped me. »

The kid's eyes widened and he looked so proud she had to deal with how endeared she was.

Her smile disappeared as she looked around her. People weren't ignoring them now, but everyone of them decide to not look her in the eyes as she glared at her. A full wagon of people and noone dared to help her.

She sat back to her place, one of her new books in hand and she used the words as a way to anchor herself.

She wasn't used to deal with anger anymore.

  


*

  


Once she arrived at the university, she was back in a good mood. No one had followed her to teach her a lesson, the walk back home was uneventful, just as she wished, and the weather was absolutely perfect. Hot and windy.

She reached her dorm, already picturing her bed that was calling her name.

« Hey! »

« HOLY SHIT! » she screamed, startling the human version of a headache that had sneaked behind her without making any noise. Being in a good mood did not mean she wasn't an anxious mess.

She glared at Lucas while her heart was trying to escape her chest and run like hell. He did not seem sorry in the least, watching her with curiosity.

« On edge ? » he mocked her with his deep voice of his.

« Why would you say that ? » she asked with a hand still on her heart.

He simply smiled, amused by such bad faith. « I parked your car behind the building, » he informed her.

« Without the keys ? » she asked, surprised.

« You're not the only one with talent. Or who used to have talent, now that I think about it. How is it to be brought back to mere mortal ? » he pretended to wonder.

« Peachy. Did you find Amanda ? »

All traces of humor disappeared from his face.

« We did, » he said quietly. « Amanda crossed her husband's path and... She didn't make it. »

God.

Riley breathed deeply.

« What happened to Mathilda ? »

« We are taking care of her. She had been placed in a good home, with people who knows how to handle traumas. But needless to say, she isn't all right. And what your remnant did to her didn't help. »

Riley clenched her jaws at the mere thought.

« You do know that all these people felt the influence of the remnant when it fed, right ? » Lucas asked as he watched her reactions.

« I do, » she answered, looking in his eyes without letting anything pass.

« And how does that make you feel ? » he asked as if he was a freaking shrink.

Talking about feelings did not seem to be one of Lucas' interests. She had thought he had came to check if the remnant was still here, but now... Well, everything did not stop because she was freed. Teddy was still dead. Alexia was still doing her best interpretation of a vegetable.

Lucas could still kill her.

« What do you want, Lucas ? »

He looked at her, a pleasant expression still on his face but his eyes were harsh. « A simple thing, » he explained. « I don't want you to think I will forget six people are dead because of you. If you think about dabbling in those circles again... »

He stopped as Riley raised a hand to tell him to be quiet.

« Where were you when I asked for your help ? When I tried to reach you, Mallory and you, as one of the people you were supposed to protect needed you ? »

« In a life or death situation, » he informed her.

« So you weren't able to do your job. And that led to me trying to pick up the slack. How funny. This mess directs from you not doing your job. »

Lucas just stared at her, his eyes growing cold. She could recognize the same anger she was feeling right now, anger directed at himself and at everyone else. The kind that was born from powerlessness.

The kind that was burning inside her right now.

« But of course, you couldn't be in two places at the same time, » she reassured him with a fake smile. « You just couldn't keep Samuel from hurting his family. So how hypocritical of you to blame me for not stopping a fucking remnant after being beaten half to death by the man you let go. »

Lucas' expression was blank.

« You are in no position to judge me, Lucas. I am tired of playing games. You want to punish me for my sins ? Bring it. But I won't apologize to you. »

They stared at each other, right in front of the building.

Until Lucas sighted. « I can actually respect that. »

Pretending she wasn't relieved would have been a lie but Riley had loose ethics.

«  Take care of yourself, Riley. »

« Take care of yourself, Lucas. »

She didn't watch him leave. Instead, she grabbed her keys and went and got back her car. Rachel would see her sooner than expected.

 

*

  


Rachel opened the door to Riley. That girl looked nothing like Rachel's daughter, and that was probably why they were so close. Riley was a brunette and tan while Alexia was a blond with fair skin. Her Alexia looked at the world with shiny eyes, her essence made of perpetual wonder, while nothing more than a quiet amusement and a tranquil force seemed to ever affect Riley.

But today, she was looking at Rachel with blatant affection. « Good afternoon, Ms... Rachel. »

The mother couldn't help a smile. For some reason, this girl seemed terrified to be rude.

« Hi, Riley. » she said before hugging her. The girl froze before awkwardly giving the embrace back.

« Thank you for welcoming me sooner than expected. »

Rachel let her go and led her to the living room.

« I asked you to visit, sweet girl, » she reminded her. « Are you all right ? You seemed a little flustered yesterday. »

« I am fine, thank you. And you ? How are you? »

« Also fine. »

After the usual small talks, Rachel started to serve drinks. Riley tried to help but she was a guest so Rachel shooed her out of her kitchen and told her to see if Alexia was awake. The girl didn't bolted into action but it was close.

Rachel started pouring the drinks, coke for the girl, something stronger for her. There was no harm in taking the aperitif at 5 pm. She took a sip quickly and listened Alexia's best friend opening the door upstairs.

Rachel breathed deeply, trying not to think about the two young women because she couldn't help comparing how much Alexia lost. Her Alexia, who had never done any harm, but who had also done so much good. She had worked for several associations, did her best to make the world a better place. She did not deserve that.

Neither did Rachel. Neither did her husband.

Rachel took the refreshments to the living room as Riley was going downstairs.

« She was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her up, » she explained.

« You did right. She will be awake soon anyway. »

Riley was wearing a black sweatshirt with « DON'T BLINK » written in white on her chest. She knew this sweatshirt and for a moment, she thought it was Alexia's but she remembered hers was light grey. That must have been about something popular that Rachel had no interest in.

Riley had been the only ones of Alexia's friends to come and visit. Rachel remembered that.

They sat on the couches. Rachel sipped her scotch and the girl automatically did the same.

« What was that scent in the room? »

« Incense, » Rachel answered. « The scent soothes me. »

Rachel drank again and Riley followed her lead. People tended to do that to avoid embarassed silence. They were taking the cue on the host to do anything except bearing the awkwardness.

« I wanted to thank you, » Rachel declared. « You have always been correct with my family and loyal to Alexia. »

« You dealt with my visits. I should be the one thanking you. »

« Please, let me speak. The more my daughter withered in her bed, the more I was afraid she would be forgotten by the world. You did not. It might not have been a good thing for you, but you stayed in her life while everyone was moving on, and your presence helped us. »

Rachel drank again and the girl did the same, obviously uncomfortable. Her glass was half-empty.

« I am glad I could help somehow, » she finally said. « Alexia is the friend I treasure the most and... »

She used her second hand to carry her glass as she stopped talking. She looked around, puzzled, and looked at her drink.

The look she gave to Rachel chilled her to the bone.

« Don't stand up, » Rachel advised.

Riley did anyway, almost jumping from the couch and she managed to take two steps before she lost balance. Rachel winced when she fell and her head bounced on the wooden floor.

Rachel put her glass on the table and walked to the girl that was trying to move but couldn't. Instead, she looked at her as if she wanted to kill her as Rachel took her phone from the back pocket of her jeans. She left to take her own phone, and called the number that had floated on her mind for days.

She went back to the kitchen and poured herself another scotch. She was doing what was right for her family.

Five minutes later, Echo strode into her house as if she owned it, two men dressed in jeans and black shirt walking behind her. One of them took one look at the girl on her floor and went and put her over his shoulder as if she weighted nothing. Riley was not responding anymore.

Echo raised an eyebrow and the man looked at his charge and moved so he was now carrying her in his arms. She looked so small and fragile, a though that would never have crossed Rachel's mind when Riley was awake and moving..

« Why is she so special for you ? » Rachel asked.

Echo looked at her as if she was surprised to hear her talk.

« I am afraid answers aren't part of our deal, Ms. Stewart, » she smiled. « What's important is that you will have your daughter back soon. »

Rachel didn't see them leave. Instead, she went to Alexia's room and waited for her daughter to wake up.

  


  


  


 

  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I wanted to give Riley one good day. I swear.
> 
> By the way, I know there is a lot of depictions of men being asshats in my fic, but I will stop using them when I stop having problems when I am in the subway. :)


	18. Chapter 18

 

Lucas didn't rush as he entered the building and was patient with the security team as they made sure he had an appointment and no weapon. He clenched his teeth as he was patted down, smiled when they actually removed his jacket, and sighted when he finally reached the elevator.

He listened to the soothing music, bothered by the utter absence of blade on him. How did people manage to feel at ease without some weapons ? He felt naked. He looked at his hand. Saw his fingers trembling slightly.

**Contain it.**

He clenched his fist. When he unclenched it, the shivering was gone and his hand was steady.

The elevator reached the last floor where King & Davies, business consultants, had their office, and the door opened to reveal dozens of people in suit pointing guns at him and a ward in front of him, invisible but so powerful he couldn't even catch their smells. He would bounce back if he tried to walk through it but the bullets from the other side would not have the same problem.

Mallory had asked him to think about letting them surrender. Too bad.

The word got still as Lucas became more, stronger, faster, who he was supposed to be.

The problem with physical ward is that they usually had a weak point... Here it was.

Lucas found it as they aimed. He punched through it as they were making the decision to shoot. Pain burst into his fist, spreading along his arm as if his skin had been poured with gazoline and set on fire.

Lucas destroyed the ward as they pulled the trigger.

The shots were deafening but Lucas was already gone. He closed the distance with the nearest shooter in less than a breath, passing behind him and using him as a puppet to shoot his colleagues with his own weapon. Fifteen bullets fired in a spray, each one finding their target until he heard the typical click of the empty chamber.

Seven down in less than three second.

He used the man he had took hostage as a meat shield and rammed it into the woman closest to them but she fell down while still clutching her weapon. The survivors shot at him, and that time, Lucas didn't have the time to prevent it.

He was in movement when he was hit. Shoulder, stomach, leg. He was pushed back, pain bursting in him and everything went red.

Pure fury took him, making the pain a distant echo and he was suddenly among them, killing with his bare hands. They fell under his nails, his claws, and he did not bother to take another gun.

Lucas felt their deaths between his hands. The warmth of their blood as it splattered on his skin. The buzzing feeling of their power as their attacks passed near him without ever touching him, for he was never where they expected him.

When he was finished, only one was still breathing. The woman he has pushed to the ground without managing to take his gun. She looked at him, raw terror widening her eyes, the kind of revelation the Valentines were specialized in.

She pointed her weapon at him as blood was dripping on him, theirs and his mixed together. The fragrance of hot iron and salt was everywhere, keeping him sharp. Energy was buzzing through him, making him more. No more wounds, no more weaknesses, and enough power not to feel threatened.

He felt like a child in a candy store.

He closed the distance between them before she had the time to shoot, pushing her wrist as she pulled the trigger. The detonation rang painfully in his ears, but away from him. He did not give her the time to react and grabbed her under the jaw with the other hand, forcing her to look up. And to bare her throat.

She froze when his fangs pierced her skin, and by the time he teared the jugular, it was too late to scream. Warm and delicious blood flowed in his mouth and he gulped it down. Something inside him recognized it as the nectar he needed. He drank more, until the thirst he had learned to ignore was quenched.

He dropped her and touched his tooth with his thumb, making sure they were back to normal.

He hated to do that. He hated that he loved that. But he knew when he needed it and relying on his strength while still thirsty meant he would lose it again. And he could not allow it to happen, not when the next few days would be so stressful, not when his team would be around him.

Still, he did not look at the woman as he walked by her to reach a room in the back. He did not need to peak inside it to know it was the one he was looking for. He could hear the buzzing sound of the protections in the walls. Power was easy to recognize when one paid attention.

He kicked the door. One, two, three, four times, until the door was ripped from its hinges under statics only people like him could hear. Fortunately, the ward was here to keep the energy of the artefacts inside, and not the other way around.

The room was filled with artefacts that would have filled Gillian with glee. Arcanic systems, constructs, alchemical experiences, every one of those designed to give more power to those who were limited to a specific gift, or devoid of it entirely. It was so much power, a delicate balance between raw power and refined arcanes. The work of a lifetime.

Lucas took the silver ring out of his pocket and throw it inside before closing the door and got away from it. He heard the sound of the scream of the wind, if wind was actually made of forgotten words, and he knew that every delicate circuits of the artefacts had exploded as a wave of power had gone through them. It took only a second to destroy them.

He left, putting the sweatshirt he had left in the elevator back on, using it to hide the blood, and did his best to clean his face and hands until he reached the first floor. The security guards didn't pay him attention and he didn't worry about being seen by the footage. Collin was probably already in the system, erasing every frame where his face appeared.

He was walking on the street when Mitchell's car appeared next to him. Having a driver in this town was a necessity. Lucas got in the backseat.

« Everything is ok, boss ? » Mitchell asked. « It was fast »

Lucas nodded, ignoring the suitcase next to him and the vials of dark liquid it contained in order to make him calm again after his show of strength. Instead, he grabbed the black backpack that contained the most beautiful things ever : his knives. He rearmed himself quickly. Using his nails and teeth conveyed a powerful message but it was still a pain.

« Any news from Mallory ?» Lucas asked as they were leaving the street.

« No but Silva doesn't like whatever he asked her to do. At all. »

Lucas couldn't help a smile when he thought about Silva's probable reaction.

« I assume it involves blowing something up, » Mitchell continued.

It did. But Mallory would want to keep it quiet until it was done.

« I will talk with her as soon as I am finished here, » Lucas assured.

Mitchell almost turned his head to look at him but decided to focus on the road : « You're sure you don't need help ? »

« Not for that. »

Lucas did not want his team to see him like this. To witness what he looked like when he lost control, any pretense there was not a predator living under his skin, living for making people bleed. The Valentine name was already enough to create distance with everyone. Knowing about the ''heroes''' true nature meant losing any chance to belong.

Mitchell accepted his answer with a nod, without realizing what was worrying Lucas.

« It's not as if you need us, » the most ancien member of his team said thoughtfully.

Lucas frowned. Where did that come from ?

« I do need you. I couldn't do my job without you having my back. »

Mitchell looked at him in the rear-view mirror, his mouth slightly opened, but quickly controlled himself and focused on the road again. With the hint of a smile on his face.

They all had their part to play. Lucas was there to be a reminder. Every act had consequences, and an attack on them meant being exposed to the fury of their cabal. What would happen would be a message to everyone that thought they were vulnerable, that angels wept when good men went to war.

A shame. They had came here to prove their strength by hunting down a remnant and to avoid a conflict.

Lucas smiled. A shame for them, of course.

They reached a house in downtown, another of their safehouse when they were doing arcanic research. Most cabal were specialized in research, seeking to know more about the secrets of the Dephts.

« It shouldn't take more than twenty minutes, » Lucas warned Mitchell.

« Good luck. »

Lucas got out of the car, walking leisurely as the world got slower and energy rushed through him. That was the second locations of the five he had to destroy today.

He had work to do.

  


*

  


When Lucas reached one of their safehouse, his people got out of his way long before he had the time to come near them. Being covered in blood without having a scratch will do that. He ignored them, ignored how awkward and clumsy they looked next to him, how he could hear their hearts beating in their chest without actually making the effort of listening and how his body was light and obeying perfectly.

It was the aftermaths of the fight. Taking five strongholds by himself was a little straining and his body was reacclimating to the intoxicating feeling of going all-out. But the discrepancy between himself and the others would not have been so important if he was still among his clan.

Lucas did not regret being a Valentine. But from time to time, he was still surprised by this feeling of not belonging.

He disappeared in one of the bathroom and cleaned himself quickly before changing clothes. Here, no one not in the known could guess he had destroyed five strongholds and by that, what basically formed their armories.

He got out of there, went to pick a bag in Mallory's locker, and went and visit his new unwilling guest. Calvin, the talented young man that had tried to fry Lucas with his own version of a taser, was in a laboratory in the basement, guarded by Silva, because he had faith she would recognize anything that could explode. She had a sixth sense for these things.

By the time he reached their floor, he could hear their voices despite the thick walls and had to pause to make sure he was actually hearing this.

« Simple curiosity ? Do you have a boyfriend ? » Calvin was asking.

« No, » Silva answered with a tone that indicated she was barely paying attention to the conversation.

« Is it a ''No, I don't have a boyfriend'' or a ''No and I am not in the market for one'', because ... »

And then, there was silence. Lucas could perfectly picture what was happening inside, Silva's flat stare and Calvin probably reconsidering ever talking again.

« You can probably guess, » Silva finally said.

« Oki doki. »

Lucas ended the awkwardness by entering, still carrying the heavy bag behind him. Silva, who was crouched on a chair, seeming relaxed but watching actually everything, stood up as soon as she saw him. Calvin put his hands on the table, obviously uncomfortable. It seemed like the poor boy did not appreciate Lucas.

« Could you take over from here ? » Silva asked.

Lucas slightly raised an eyebrow. Silva wasn't the kind to leave an assignment, except if Calvin had seriously pissed her off. She seemed to understand his reasonemment because she mouthed : « Nature calls. » and left.

« Calvin. »

« Lucas, » he said as if it was supposed to bother him. The Valentine remembered a little late than the less dangerous members of their community were not used to use only one name. Some of them lived longer than most and needed to change identities several times, so surnames were obsolete in the long run.

Lucas took Silva's chair and put it in front of the table to face the young man that was trying to communicate he absolutely was not worried or intimidated. Too bad that Lucas could actually hear how his heartbeat had accelerated when Silva had left.

« So, you're a Valentine, » Calvin continued as Lucas sat, his bag now on the floor. « My Nana used to tell me bedtimes stories about people like you. She said you are heroes. »

Augh.

« Not really. Just good at what we do, » Lucas replied, hoping he would drop the subject.

« Fighting against terrible odds and winning nevertheless ? » Calvin asked with a smile, half-mockery, half fondness.

« Killing. It's as simple as that, » Lucas answered, proving once again how tactful he was.

The boy gulped. Not a boy, he was in his twenties but somehow, he looked like a child to Lucas.

« You are a man of the craft, » Lucas said. « It's an useful gift to have these days. »

« If you say so. »

« Half of the cabals would collapse on themselves without arcanic works like the ones you provide. Does the metal whisper to you ? Are your dreams filled with ideas that stays with you when you woke ? »

Calvin stared at him, careful not to betray anything of what he was thinking. However, Lucas had practice at this game and knew how to read a face.

« This is the mark of a master of the craft. I know someone like you, always creating knew things, her inspiration limitless. And she tends to get possessed by her ideas. Does this ring any bell ? »

« Why don't you give a call to your lady instead of bothering me ? »

Calvin was glaring at him but he could not hide how frightened he was. Lucas could smell fear on him, could hear how agitated he was becoming, and he could just **feel** something in him screaming ''prey ''.

« She is somewhere in Europe and I am not bothering you. We are at war. »

He let it sink, for everyone affiliated with their people would know what war entailed.

War was not clean. War was never limited to the fighters. Everyone in between was a pawn, be it an ally, an enemy, or a supply. In the past, whole families had been killed to make soldiers stronger, others had been reduced in slavery. The little ones were never safe when two giants were fighting.

« Today, I destroyed five of Boston's cabal strongholds, because their fire power is their strength and their mark. Mallory's is about the protection it offers. Every vulnerable people has been evacuated so they would not be made an example. You became a target as soon as I saw you, and that's why you're here, protected. So is your family. » He raised a hand before Calvin did something stupid like threatening him. « They are not hostages. They accepted, and nothing will happen to them if you refuse what I ask. »

« I don't create things that can kill, » Calvin warned. « I won't be of any use for your battles. »

Lucas couldn't help a smile. « I don't want something so crude as a weapon, Calvin. I want a way to find a remnant. »

Calvin blinked. Once, twice, then tilted his head on the side as if he knew each word in this last sentence but could not understand the sense. It was fascinating to see.

« There is actually a remnant in town ? I thought it was a new urban legend, » he added in a really quiet voice.

« It's real and it's here. »

Lucas considered telling him there were actually two remnants but decided against it. The boy's head would probably explode.

« Then why in the ever loving fuck do you want to meet a remnant again ? » he almost screeched.

« Take a deep breath, » Lucas advised.

« And why would you involve me in this ? » Calvin continued in the same breathless tone of his. « I am no one ! I don't want to see a remnant ! I don't want a remnant to see me ! »

Lucas had actually been trained to cal m people when they became hysterical, but somehow, watching Calvin panicking was deeply entertaining.

« You don't hang around them ! Not if you want to keep your soul ! »

Lucas took the bag, opened it, and dropped his contents on the table : several wads of bids with a rare color. Calvin stopped ranting, his eyes wide.

« I would really like it ready in less than a week, » Lucas explained, « because I don't like to let the remnant roaming around. »

« Well... »

Lucas dropped more money, finishing to convince the clever young man.

« In theory, since they are supposed to eat magic, there are ways to track them, I guess... But it's a theory and I don't know if... »

Lucas shook the bag again and dollars were raining. He was so generous with Mallory's money. That would teach him to call back.

« Stop throwing money ! » Calvin screeched.

« So that's a yes ? »

« Yes ! »

And Mallory had the audacity to say Lucas wasn't good with negotiations.

He was still being smug as he heard someone coming, someone light, and Silva entered in the room, a tablet in hand and a darkened look on her face. That was not a good sign.

He left her the chair and took the tablet and the documents on it. Sent by Duke, the one who had to investigate Amanda Price's disparition.

He had found her. Lucas was looking at a photography of Amanda, unceremoniously dropped into a dumpster.

He breathed deeply, careful not to show anything on his face as Calvin was still in sight. « Thank you, Silva. I will take care of this. » He left and called Duke as soon as he was sure he could not be heard.

From what Duke had found, he could tell that Amanda had been beaten a little before her death, itself due to a broken neck. Since blood had been found in a building, it was likely that she was pushed in the stairs, and that her sudden end was unintentional.

Lucas would have to tell a little girl that her mother would never come back.

He sighted. Most people agreed that dying by the hand of the remnant was a fate no one deserved. Samuel Price did.

Which reminded him he had to check on the remnant that refused to leave its contractor out of sight, like a dog trained to guard and attack.

  


*

  


Riley did not look like someone who dabbled with remnants. She looks too young and too smart for that, even in a world where people could randomly stop aging and where ambition was a virtue. She had no affiliation with any known families, in Germany as in Syria, there was no trace that she had studied the arcanes, and she did not seem to know anything about their world.

Instead, she had stumbled on it and met one of the nightmares that sent monsters running for their lives. A proof that life had a bad sense of humor. How many had begged and sacrificed anything for a chance to be great ? And this power has found its way into the hands of a neophyte.

Lucas found her as she was coming back to her room. He waited for a moment, waiting for her to acknowledge his presence.

He was not wearing his tag today. The tag that allowed him to be hidden from a remnant. He had left him in his car, despite wearing it day and night since he had learned about a remnant. The artefact was expensive, it could only be used for a few days, then had to be supplied with new energy, but Mallory and him refused to take any risks.

And Lucas was different from his team. He had more life to spare. When he had been confronted to the remnant, he did not feel any exhaustion, as the beast inside him had been awaken, like every time he was in danger. But calming down afterwards... He had disappeared for the night and Mallory had the good sense not to ask any question.

Riley did not seem to notice anything, even as she passed by him. There was something different about her. She did not move as if she did not have a care, but with caution. He had not noticed until now, but Riley always seems to adapt with the flow, and was not merely apathic. But now, there was something missing. She looked younger, more vulnerable. More scared.

Like someone who was used to power and lost it. Given up it if she was to be trusted.

Also like someone who had played with fire and others people had paid for it. She was smart, she knew retribution was coming if she kept her alliance with the remnant. She had left the ship before it sunk, and it was all right, no hard feeling. But there would be no second chance. She could not stay low until Lucas was distracted to make another pact.

He walked behind her and called her when he was close enough : « Hey! »

Lucas did not expect her to almost jump out her skin, screaming her lungs out : « HOLY SHIT! » as she turned around, a hand on her bag and fury on her face. He did not even realized she could manifest emotions. He had taken her cool persona for granted, but seeing her so lively was interesting.

« On edge ? » he ask with a hint of amusement. He tried to imagine being like everyone else. Half blind, mostly deaf, and not having a body able to heal fully or to do what he was asking. He would not last a week. Or three days.

But he had always been like this, so Riley had a chance.

« Why would you say that ? » she asked in a detached tone and in pure bad faith as she was trying to suppress a fight-or-flight response.

« I parked your car behind the building, » he informed her, even if someone else actually did on his orders.

« Without the keys ? » she asked.

Kids...

« You're not the only one with talent. Or who used to have talent, now that I think about it. How is it to be brought back to mere mortal ? » he mused out loud.

**Show yourselves. Show your true colors. Prove me you're going to go back to the old ways.**

Instead of being nervous, like everyone around Lucas, she just gave him a flat unamused stare, clearly not impressed.

« Peachy, » she enunciated as if he was an idiot.

Riley was an interesting girl. She had to be to make a pact with a remnant, but even without any traces of it now, there was still this strange calm about her. She knew Lucas was not a regular human being, knew he was able to lift her as if she weighted nothing to throw her across the room. And here she was, snarking at him while members of his own team did not raise their voices in his presence.

She passed a hand in her hair and annoyance disappeared, letting the place to actual concern : « Did you find Amanda ? »

He wondered for a second how she knew, before remembering he had asked her about it.

« We did, » he said. « Amanda crossed her husband's path and... She didn't make it. »

Riley took a deep breath and emotions vanished. Lucas waited for the familiar cold to seep in her eyes, through the air, anything, but it did not happen. It was just the familiar mask of someone who needed to have a clear mind to handle the situation.

« What happened to Mathilda ? »

Lucas had wondered if she had a soft spot for the kid or if she was actually mimicking what was expected of her. Fondness to children, loyalty to a friend, anger faced with injustice. She was still difficult to read but it was clear she felt responsible for the little girl.

« We are taking care of her. She had been placed in a good home, with people who knows how to handle traumas. »

He watched her carefully. « But needless to say, she isn't all right. And what your remnant did to her didn't help, » he reminded her.

There it was. Anger.

« You do know that all these people felt the influence of the remnant when it fed, right ? » Lucas asked. Reminding her how much her intervention had cost. He did not want her to ever forget what happened whe someone played with what he could not understand. People died. And perpetrators were punished.

He looked at her and tried to see if his work was over. If he was not making a mistake in allowing her to leave. She had already proven she could manage a remnant. She used it as an enforcer despite the enormous pressure its presence brought. Every instinct he has was quiet, as none of them was seeing a threat in the girl in front of him.

But he knew the truth. Riley was dangerous.

« I do, » she assured.

« And how does that make you feel ? » he asked, trying to see something. Guilt. Horror. Anything to reassure him.

Generations before him, common wisdom was to kill anyone who could pause a threat someday.

She looked at him as if she could read his thoughts and refused to look away. « What do you want, Lucas ? »

« A simple thing, » he explained. « I don't want you to think I will forget six people are dead because of you. If you think about dabbling in those circles again... »

Riley raised a hand to make him quiet, a gesture so similar to his older female cousins that he had to stop. He couldn't help to be quietly amused by how she was treating him.

« Where were you when I asked for your help ? » she asked with a polite smile. « When I tried to reach you, Mallory and you, as one of the people you were supposed to protect needed you ? »

« In a life or death situation, »

« So you weren't able to do your job. And that led to me trying to pick up the slack. How funny, » she pretended to muse about before looking at him in the eyes, merciless. « This mess directs from you not doing your job. »

Anger made his way past his usual protections, the kind of prideful anger that was awakened every time someone under his protection was hurt. An attack on one of them was an attack on him, a challenge to his strength. He pushed it back, refusing to show how close to the surface his instinct was.

But Riley was not finished. She did not raise her voice. She did not drop her friendly facade for a second.

« But of course, you couldn't be in two places at the same time, » she reassured him with a fake smile. « You just couldn't keep Samuel from hurting his family. So how hypocritical of you to blame me for not stopping a fucking remnant after being beaten half to death by the man you let go. »

Samuel's car had been wrecked and blood had splattered here and there on the concrete but Lucas and everyone else had thought it was Amanda's but of course, now they knew she was killed on the site, someone else had to have been hurt.

Riley did not have a scratch. How was that possible ?

She took a step toward him, radiating anger, the precise kind, the dangerous kind.

« You are in no position to judge me, Lucas. I am tired of playing games. You want to punish me for my sins ? Bring it. But I won't apologize to you. »

She kept challenging him, something dangerous in her eyes. Not the remnant, not some hidden ace, but the truth : she would not win but she would make sure he got hurt in the process. That was the kind of desperate madness predators learn to recognize to cut their losses.

But there was no point. One on one, without any help from her contractor, she would lose. Lucas could easily incapacitate her. He could rip her apart and walk out unscathed. And nothing he could do to her could make her words untrue.

Whatever monster Riley was, she was a regular human one and Lucas was better at handling the supernatural ones. Mallory had told him to ignore her until the war was over. It would be on him.

« I can actually respect that, » he finally said.

She sighted, obviously relieved.

She did not have the remnant anymore. He was now sure about it. She was not this person who did not care about her death anymore, who thought she was invincible.

She was like everyone else now. Like Silva, like Mitchell, like Duke. Even less, as she wasn't trained to fight.... Lucas was dumbfounded when he realized she was weaker than Calvin and was still not acting with the same caution everyone had in their world. She was either insane or brave.

Eitherway, she was not Lucas' problem anymore, as long as she did not try to jump back in their world.

«  Take care of yourself, Riley. »

« Take care of yourself, Lucas. »

It was only as he drove away that Lucas realized he had not asked her how she had broken her contract. She had thrown enough ugly truths at him to distract him from the matter at end.

He was going to regret not taking care of Riley when she was still manageable. He just knew it.

  


  


  


  


 


	19. Chapter 19

 

The mansion was a monster of a construction, outside of town, isolated, and bought a little after Mallory, the leader of an emerging cabal, had heard about the stranges occurrences happening on the campus of an Ivy League University. It was conceived to welcome dozens and dozens of people, a safe place to protect Mallory's clients.

It would have been a better stronghold if it had been better hidden.

Victor waited for Sierra to analyze every arcanic threats that were waiting for them while quietly monitoring the state of his team. Eight men and women, all linked, and Victor could feel them in his mind. Their impatience, the will to attack, their tension and edginess. Two of them were _talking_ without uttering a word and he could have listened to them with the smallest effort.

And they would not even know.

Instead, he paid attention to the expert kneeling on the grass as he was scribbling on the blueprints of the mansion with a red pen, ignoring everything that was not some form of energy. Sierra had been on the ranks for a long time and it showed. The man was tall and thin, his skin pale as he rarely went out when the sun was up, and there was something fragile about him, as if he would break if he was not handled carefully.

But what gave him away were his eyes. Constantly wide open, their blue was almost blurred with the white, and they saw much more than Victor's own. He finished drawing on the blueprints models and handed the document to the team leader, impatient to leave now that his job was done.

« You're sure you have everything ? » Victor asked but Sierra was already leaving.

People did not matter to Sierra. He was only here because he lived to use his ability.

Victor stopped looking at him to study the new informations, noting every spots to avoid and broadcasting it mentally. Here and there, out of his sight, each teammate nodded and he knew it as if they were right beside him.

The traps were gathered outside the house, which made sense since there were civilians inside. No one wanted to shelter non-fighters for them to get killed by the same wards that were supposed to protect them. Cars had moved in and out the mansion all day and thermic recognition had confirmed there were people inside, despite something in the walls that made them difficult to recognize.

Civilians and their family. Victor's targets, because they had made the wrong choice when they had trusted someone else to ensure their safety instead of looking for ways to be strong. And they were doomed because of it.

Victor knew they did not deserve such a fate, but it was not about fairness. It was about loyalty. He owed everything to his employers. They had found him, honed him, made him better. And in return, he respected and followed their ideal. This was about trust and duty. When the people inside the mansion had chosen to stay weak and dependent on someone else's power, they had accepted that their fate would be intertwined with Mallory's.

An acknowledgment that did not belong to Victor appeared in the sea of shadows that he used to be in communion with the members of his team. Romeo, Whiskey, Mike, November, Lima, Charlie and Fox. Each of them agreeing loudly and silently at the same time that this needed to be done.

 _Time to hunt_ , he announced.

 _Time to hunt_ , his pack answered.

  


*

  


Mallory winced as his knee started throbbing with pain. Not a sharp pain but simmering, far away, and impossible to ignore. He glared at his leg before stretching it, forcing the joint to move and the pain to spread and to diffuse. There were good days and bad days, but most of the time, the discomfort could not be predicted.

He resisted the urge to stand up and to start walking again. It would not to anything to disperse the edge. Each of his senses were sharpened by the wait. The silence was so heavy it was attacking his earing as he tried to pick up a sound. He could not focus on the book in his hand. He felt uneasy by being still and since he had been walking around the room two minutes ago, he knew moving did nothing to soothe him.

And of course, he could not pretend that his old wound did not bother him. Pain was a funny thing, manageable with a good enough distraction. Usually, he used people. But Lucas was not there. Neither was Gillian.

Mallory was alone with his thoughts, as he waited in front of the panic room. The last rampart if someone made their way to this safehouse. No Lucas, no team, no militia, just him.

And he was not a fighter. Some people had the instinct, were born predators. They could spend their whole live without making any kill, but that did not change their nature. Mallory was different. More common. He could kill, but he did not have the appetite. He did not enjoy it.

It was not a bad thing. People glorified the instinct of the killers, it appealed to them on some level, but the truth was that pure predators were miserable. They lived on the edge, always watching their back and dedicating all their energy to the hunt and not to be hunted. It was not a pleasant life.

Whereas simple social people had the time to actually enjoy their lives. To have friends,a family, to love, to hate, to experience connections and to learn more. Until the predators came for them because they needed preys, and if you weren't one of them, you had to be the hunted.

Several decades ago, five men had grabbed him of the streets and brought him to an isolated location to interrogate him. They were looking for Mallory's future brother in law. They were looking for something Shaw had stolen from them. When Mallory had been unable to answer their questions, one of them had taken a hammer to his knee.

That man had not destroyed his mobility to make him talk, to make him spill some potential secrets Mallory might have sworn to protect. He did it because he was angry, he wanted to hurt someone, and Mallory had been in reach at that time.

Mallory still remembered the noise. The sound of the metal head of the hammer and of his bone crunching under the impact.

He pushed the memory away before he was swallowed by the past.

  


*

  


« Don't move ! » Victor ordered as he found the leader of the enemies, alone in the middle of an empty room, a book in hand, and his phone on the table. Mallory simply raised his head and looked at him, unimpressed by the gun pointed in his direction.

 _What is he doing here ?_ Whiskey immediately reacted. His mind a mess of conjectures as he kept securing the site. _Where is Lucas ?_

 _Not in sight,_ Lima immediately answered, the one with the most important sensibility to energy in their group. _I keep looking._

 _Well, be ready ! I don't want to be surprised by a freaking Valentine,_ Mike whined. Still young, the newest recrute to the team, and not used enough to be more. She would have to learn fast if she did not want to let her place to someone who handled the modifications with a little less hysteria.

Mallory closed his book, slowly, and looked at him with a derisory smile : « Would you believe me if I told you I am almost glad to see you ? »

_What's his problem ?_

« I am not a fan of isolation, » Mallory answered as if he had heard them. But that was impossible, Mallory should have to be on their frequency, and only those with a specific set of implant could access it.

Victor felt the same echos of wonder in his team's minds, and like him, they understood it was a coincidence, even though November was slightly spooked.

Mallory had appeared from nowhere five years ago. Not a fighter, but his usual bodyguard was the worst guardian to bypass. Fortunately, Lucas Valentine was also an attack dog, the best weapon Mallory's cabal had, and when he was on the move, he hid his employer behind arcanic traps.

Always. And being predictable meant death in their world.

« I know there is a panic room in the basement. Give me the code and it will be quick. If not, we will burn this house to the ground. A quick end or a slow one. »

Victor did not insult him by pretending they would spare anyone.

Mallory's smile widened as Lima was throwing an image at everyone of them, urgency screaming in their joined minds.

Several things happened at once. Eight people moving at once, every action different, but each one of them living it at the same time. November dashed to the outside, running for her live. Mike spun and threw herself on Lima, using her body as a shield. Lima grabbed her wrist, eyes closed. Whiskey froze. Charlie ran, while knowing he was too far for any exit. Fox threw himself under a table. Romeo prayed.

Victor pulled the trigger because if he could not save them, he could make sure they did not leave alone.

But none of these actions mattered because Mallory had pressed the detonator a couple of second before Lima found one of the numerous explosives packed in the house.

The noise of the detonation was drowned in the sea of flames that engulfed the house. From the outside to the inside, so Victor had a full second to feel every member of his pack die. One second. A little eternity.

  


*

  


Burried alive under the wreckage he had commissioned. It was not supposed to happen, even if Silva had warned him. There was no way to ensure the debris would not fall wherever they wanted. So Mallory pushed and crawled and kept his jaws clenched because opening his mouth meant opening the lid that kept the claustrophobia he did not know he possessed.

Mallory dug himself out the burnt ruins with no dignity left but unharmed, except for a headache. Fire had licked him without harming him. Debris had fallen on him without scarring him, their weight did not manage to crush him and the internal damages were already healed. Splinters and one bullet that bounced back on his skin.

Another consequence of one of Shaw's plan. Another plan where everything was supposed to be better after that, except Mallory was the only one to escape this strange place. His sanity had been in shambles, death had been following him for days as he looked for his way out, but he had survived.

And he would keep surviving forever. That was the gift he had brought back with him. And his curse. Few things could hurt him without his consent, and nothing could end him.

He found Lucas right outside the ruins, leaning on his car as he looked around until he saw Mallory. Not that he had a choice. Lucas couldn't exactly look for him while what remained of the mansion was still burning.

« Here he is ! » Lucas mocked while making sure not to let his gaze drop below Mallory's neck. « He doesn't call. Doesn't write. I thought I was forgotten ! » He pretended to be pained and gave him baby-wipes.

« You will always be unforgettable, Lucas. Alas, » Mallory lamented as he cleaned his face, his hands and his forearms. Even bespoke suits could not resist incendiary devices and Mallory was covered in soot. His eyes were even watering as they got rid of the dust.

« Stop being a comic and put on some clothes, » Lucas said before almost throwing him a bag. Mallory took a peak inside, confused not to see the usual suits.

Well, he had evidently underestimated how much Lucas hated to be stonewalled.

« They are your size, » Lucas noticed with the most innocent expression. « And purple is the color of royalty. »

Royalty never wore tracksuits.

« I am considering staying naked, » Mallory informed him, half-tempted to actually do that to teach Lucas not to mess with his clothes. « We would make such a impression once we are back to HQ. »

« Try to sit in my car naked and I will sic your own HR on you for sexual harassment, » Lucas warned. « But if you want to be free of the textile domination, you're free to run behind her. » He nodded as he patted his Audi, completely serious.

Mallory got dressed, putting on the purple tracksuit and the black t-shirt, but left the matching jacket in the plastic bag. They got out of here before the firemen arrived. Mallory hoped they would not discover the shambles of the artefacts used to mimic human's thermic signature. One of the first Gillian had created. Now that he had used it, she wound be insufferable, as she should.

He watched Lucas as he drove. He had known him for five years, so even thought he was good at hiding how tense he was, it was obvious to Mallory. Back when he had decided to create his own cabal, a response to the insanity that was the current system where lives depended of the good will of some modern feodal lords, they had been constantly targeted.

So Mallory had to learn how to recognize when Lucas was hungry. When he was in a especially bad mood, when light and sounds bothered him more, when his movements were too fast, etc. But there was none of this signs despite the intense fighting he had to go with today.

Lucas had fed, and now, he was dealing with the reminder that he was not as in control as he liked to believe. That he was not as human as he pretended.

His friend glanced at him and Mallory realized he was staring. « Why did you not tell me that Riley wanted to give up on the remnant ? »

« I did, » Lucas noticed. « If you ask why I did not pass you the phone as soon as she mentioned it, it was because the decision was already taken. »

« I could have changed that. »

The right words. A few pushes. The reminder of their deal. He could have easily convinced her to wait, and she would have been useful to keep searching under the radar while they were busy dealing with the insecurities of an old cabal.

« I know. But there is something wrong about Riley. She doesn't follow the rules. »

Indeed.

« Mallory ? » Lucas called.

Mallory turned toward him, all traces of humor having vanished from his face.

« Do me a favor. Check on Alexia Stewart. »

  


 

 


	20. Chapter 20

 

Echo felt the cold that meant the remnant was close. Their remnant, the one they had managed to invoke, not the one that lived inside the strong girl that would sacrifice herself for their cause. She could feel the unnatural cold on her skin but not the weakness associated with its kiss. It knew it was not allowed to touch any of them.

Despite it, Eco had accepted to let her team secure the precinct without actually staying underground, where Riley was waiting, acknowledging their discomfort. Everyone of them knew that the remnant was something from times where gods were walking among them. Everyone of them was proud of their mission. And everyone of them couldn't help to be scared.

You could admire something and still be scared of it. You could see how magnificent something was while understanding it was higher than you on the food chain.

She called more power to her, chanelling it via the signs engraved on her skin until her mind was clear again, and she opened the door to the basement. Riley was laying on the dirty floor, her hands bound behind her back, her face obscured by her hair.

Echo entered and closed the door without making any noise. Riley finally raised her head when she dragged a chair across the room. Her eyes were still unfocused because of the drug they had given her but she could see the hurt, the pain and the fear not completly hidden.

When Echo had met her, she expected a predator whose hunger was never satisfied but Riley was far more complicated than that.

« I am so sorry. »

Riley didn't bother to sit. She just stared at her from where she was.

« You will be, » she assured calmly.

Echo gave her a sad smile. It was only words now. Riley had no power anymore. They had both made sure of it.

Fate had a strange sense of humor. Echo was born in a world of wonder with none of the gifts to live in it and had fought for power her hole life, until she was one of the Giants of this world. While Riley came from the grey world but had all the gifts, so much power that she couldn't comprehend how lucky she was. And here they were.

« I want you to know that you're saving Alexia. You will give us so much, you deserve to know. »

Riley smiled but anyone would have recognized it as an animal showing teeth. It was good that she was still weakened, or she would have tried to do something stupid and hurt herself in the process.

« Alexia was the perfect subject for what we wanted, » Echo continued. « She was almost empty when we reached her. A perfect vessel. »

Something passed in Riley's eyes. Too fast for Echo to see.

« A vessel for what ? » the girl asked.

Wasn't it obvious ?

« A vessel for the remnant. We are going to bring it back to life. »

Riley got really still and just stared at her with big eyes. Echo could see her think, could see her understand every ramification of this advance. Riley was clever. She could have been a great asset if she was born into their world.

« I told you remnants were gods and death was not enough to stop them, » Echo reminded her. « But it was enough to cripple them. They used to have powers that could level cities, but now, they only use their abilities to feed. If they had an anchor in this realm, they could have their powers back. They could do so much. »

« You wanted it to possess Alexia... » Riley's voice was barely above a whisper.

« Think about it. She was empty, a perfect receptacle. We just needed to make her strong enough to withstand so much power. Most people would burn from within when confronted with so much energy... »

« Are you insane ? »

Echo smiled, understanding. « I know you... »

« Actually, it's not a question, » Riley corrected her. « You. Are. Insane. You tell me that as if I am supposed to understand this madness. You wanted to kill Alexia. You want to kill me. We are human ! »

The irony was almost painful.

« Are you ? » Echo asked.

« Pretty sure I am. As for Alexia, even such a blatant bad taste in clothes doesn't make her a monster. »

There was a note of hysteria to Riley's words. How difficult it must be to stay calm now that nothing was monitoring her emotions.

« I personally know our remnant's contractor. He found it in a place in the world that would make your hair go white. He made a pact, promising him to be brought back to life, and in exchange, it would fight for us. And now, the remnant comes to him when it is called. They are working together. They are not one. »

« What are you saying ? »

Echo leaned toward her, making sure she understood : « You do not have a contract with a remnant, Riley. You are what comes before a remnant is created. »

Echo expected astonishment but nothing passed on Riley's face.

The girl simply studied her without showing anything.

« You told me they were gods. I am not, » she finally said.

« Give it time. Remnants started as predators. Time made them demons then gods. And now, here you are. You have the activated genes and the acquired resistance to be the perfect vessel for the remnant because of it. »

Riley raised an eyebrow, as if Echo was not seeing the obvious. « And why would you want that when you can have the real thing ? »

_Because you are out of control. Because trusting you is something we can't afford, not when we do not have a contract with you._

« People like you used to destroy whole towns when they had a craving. Our society can't survive the appearance of someone like you, while a mature remnant had already learned to control itself. »

« Such a humanist, » Riley almost snarled.

When she stopped pretending to be calm, when she stopped pretending nothing could touch her, Echo could almost see the real Riley. The girl behind the remnant, the potential asset. But all this potential was lost now.

« If you had died before I found you, another remnant would have been created. If not, you would have become something that should remain forgotten. You are a child of the Depths, thoroughly. »

« I am not. Not anymore at least. That's why you let me go ! » Riley pleaded, urgency in her voice.

« I wanted you to enjoy one final day. One day of happiness. »

Riley stared at her as if Echo had slapped her. The agent leaned back in her chair, putting distance between the target and her.

« What I did is just a temporary solution, » Echo continued. « You can hide the effects, banish the hunger for a time, but you are already too broken by its influence. One day, you will want it back, break the sceal, and this time, stopping you will cost brave soldiers' lives. And I can't allow it. »

Riley tilted her head, more curious than worried. « Do you actually believe what you're saying ? »

Echo sighted. She wanted her to understand but there was probably no point.

Riley's features contorted as the mask slipped, showing for the first time the terrified girl that tried to keep her cool.

« You told me to trust you. You were the first person I revealed myself to. The first person I trust about the horrible thing that keeps following me. Please, don't do this, » she begged, hurt so visible it was painful to witness it. « Don't betray me. Please. »

Riley did not deserve that. She was so strong, had fought so long. But it was required so they could fulfill the contract and access what they were promised.

Echo stood up and walk toward the terrified young woman. She crouched down, genuinely puzzled by how fond she found herself. There was something about Riley she genuinely liked. How she kept her cool, how she faced everything. Echo carefully touched her face.

Such a waste.

« You will die free and human, » Echo assured. « I know it's not what you wanted and my heart breaks for you, but trust me, it's for the best. I am saving you. »

Riley managed to step back so Echo would not touch her anymore. She did not say anything. Did not show anything, not even the genuine fear she was feeling. She just stared at her, her eyes filled with promise.

« I hope you live long enough to lose everything you hold dear. »

Echo simply smiled.

« When it happens, remember no one will ever come to save you. »

Echo did not need anyone to save her and that was why she would never be in Riley's position.

« I understand, » she repeated instead before she left. The cold gaze followed her until she closed the door.

  


*

  


Lucas knocked on the door and waited for an answer that never came. He considered for a moment his options : to wait, to call inside, or to knock again. But since he had left Mallory and his team with no protection in the middle of a war between cabals, he took a step back, and kicked the door with all his strength.

The door burst open, revealing a lit corridor, the smell of junk food but no one came to see what was happening. Lucas listened, letting the beast closer to the surface and a heartbeat reached him. Near him. And another upstairs but weaker. Alexia, still halfway to the void.

Lucas went to the kitchen, light on his feet and power rushing through him. He entered in the large room without making any noise.

The large table in the center of the kitchen was filled with plates, pizzas, hamburgers, fries, chicken nuggets, and various sandwiches, so much that seeing the wood of the table underneath was a challenge. Despite the tremendous amount of food, half of the plates were empty, almost clean.

A young woman with messy blond hair and who was still chewing turned toward him as he looked at her. She was crouched on a chair, wearing blue pyjamas with a bear snoring on her top tank, and was destroying a pizza. She smiled, half embarrassed, half actually amused, and hid her mouth with her hand : « Hey Handsome ! »

Alexia looked well for someone who was in a coma for three months.

She drank three larges gulps of coke, cleaned her mouth with a napkin, and stopped eating as she wiped her greasy hands. Her movements were perfectly controlled, unlike what they should have been after she stopped using her muscles for a hundred days, give or take. Her skin was fair and not pale like what it was a week ago.

For a disturbing second, Lucas wondered if Riley had broken her pact with the remnant to give it to her best friend. In order to bring her back.

But the remnant had nothing to win with such a deal. And even with that, Riley would not have thrown her friend under the bus when she worried about Lucas and Mallory's punishment for the remnant's lack of control. Probably.

« Were you the one who knocked ? Sorry but I was just famished. But please, » she showed the table and all the food, « join me ! I went a little overboard. »

Even if the last dinner he had been invited to had not been a disaster, Lucas would still have refused with all his might.

« Thank you for the invitation but I will pass. »

« Too bad, » She did not actually winked at him but it was a close call.

Lucas stayed by the door, indulging her tone. « But don't let me interrupt you. Glad to see you up, by the way. »

Alexia raised her glass to toast : « And glad to be back. » She drank a little and cleaned her mouth again. « I must sound ridiculous, but it's been a long time since I actually... » She gestured at the table and strangely, at him.

« You're not ridiculous and don't mind me. But can I ask you a question ? »

Alexia was not activating any of his instincts. Sometimes, people could hide themselves from him, but not after a day like this one, when he was on edge and when a blood that did not belong to him was flowing in his veins. So she was not a remnant. Lucas could easily deal with anything that was not an avatar of dread that could not be killed.

She looked around and pulled a hamburger closer. « Shoot. »

« Who is upstairs ? »

_Don't say Riley. Don't say Riley._

« My mom, » Alexia answered instead.

Lucas did not sight from relief but he could not deny there was some of it.

« Is she hurt ? »

Alexia stopped gazing at the food and looked at him, her grey eyes shining with intelligence under the lights, but nothing else that would indicate that she was not the regular girl that had fallen victim to something unknown but definitely supernatural.

« She is indeed. And before you ask, I did it, » she said without an ounce of remorse. She was not even pretending. « She did something terribly wrong that I can not correct for now. »

She showed her hand and the shivers that ran on her long fingers, her hand, wrist, arm. She looked at them with a mournful expression. « I am not sure of what was involved in my miracle treatment but I am not exactly in top condition. Hence the fuel. »

« And what did she do ? »

« She threw my best friend under the bus to bring me back. Motherly love is a scary thing, » she pondered before looking at him again, something terrible and old now on her features. « But slaughter is still slaughter, especially when it concerns someone I love. »

What would Mallory say ?

« Don't you also love your mother ? »

Alexia simply smiled, and then, she was back to the young woman everyone described as radiant and almost too nice.

« I do. That's why she will be all right in the long run. It's just a lesson, not a punishment. »

He was actually believing her. She was partially insane, no doubt about that, but there was something honest about it. She did not hide, did not try to mislead him. She said things as they were.

« You also love Riley more, » Lucas noticed.

Alexia shrugged but for the first time since Lucas entered, it felt forced. She pointed in the direction of the south, mighty in her assurance even if her arm was straining to support its own weight.

« Riley is this way if you're looking for her. People who helped me have her. »

« How do you know ? »

He actually had an idea.

Alexia looked at him but there was more than mere sight behind this action. She looked at him as if hidden things were revealing themselves under her eyes, as if truth was obvious, but only to her.

« I can see the reflection of the real you as you stand there, » she told him, fascinated. « Something bigger than you, taller and stronger than you, with claws and fangs and shiny eyes that are looking at me to see if I am a challenge. All this power about to burst as it is contained in such little flesh... »

She shook her head as of she was trying to get rid of the image before she was pulled in.

« So please, trust me when I say I know some things. »

Some people were born with a gift. Some made a pact. And others were changed by what the Depths sheltered.

Lucas gave her the phone. She nodded with an exasperated smile and took it before he left.

Mallory would have insisted on helping Rachel Stewart and making sure her daughter was not a threat for herself and for others. But Rachel had refused to let them help and had decided to take the matter in her own hands. Lucas did not have to help other people escaping their mistakes. If another cabal had Riley, it was for the remnant. And anyone with a remnant had priority.

As he got out of this house, he heard Alexia pretending to be panicked on the phone, her voice reaching high notes here and there.

« 911 ? My mother was running with a knife and fell on it ! She stabbed herself in the guts. Please, send help ! »

A new player in the game, and even more unpredictable than the previous one.

  


 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did you think I only ever called what was haunting Riley "The geist" and not the first remnant? ;)


	21. Chapter 21

 

Show no fear. Always be in control. Don't let them see that they get to you. Sound advices that allowed Riley to appear calm until Echo closed the door.

And as soon as she thought she was alone, something worldless and almost silent escaped her throat, because no word could describe what an idiot she had been. She tried to do something, anything to let go of the nastiness that was clinging to her, but her body could not respond. Not when her hands where tied behing her and her legs refused to obey.

Riley stayed on the floor, as she could do nothing to distract her from her situation.

She had known there was always a risk when she had abandonned the geist, but she was suspecting Lucas. She trusted Echo.

Riley had wanted to believe in Echo.

She gulped down and took a deep breath, but that did nothing to push back the sheer panic that was flooding her. She felt nauseous and cold, fear making her sick. She knew what was going to happen. If Alexia was a perfect vessel because she was empty, she would have to fill the same criterias. Devoured by the cold, until there was nothing left.

She realized she was dead. She was still breathing, thinking, but just because it was not official yet. The remnant would come for her. The door would not open until she was truly gone, until the remnant took her place.

Her life would not even end. Something else would take it from her as if her existence was never hers.

Maybe she deserved it. She barely knew what she was doing. She had killed because she obviously did not know anything about herself. And she knew she would pay for what she did, the people she hurt, one way or another.

But that did not matter. Not when she wanted to live. She wanted to go back to her room and let herself drop on the bed. To enjoy a good book. To finish that serie she was binge-watching. She just wanted one more day. Then a second. Again and again.

« I can fix that, » she said out loud, the sound of her voice almost uncomfortable in the silence.

She flayed on the cold floor, moving her leg so it passed between her wrists and her back. Then the second. After a moment, she managed to bring her bound wrists in front her. She grabbed the duct tape between her teeth and pulled until the reached the border. She repeated it as she was tearing it more and more, using her jaws as a pincer to weaken the fabric. It took forever, but it kept her focused. It kept her from thinking about her probable fate. Once she was half-way, she tested it and spread her arms violently. The duct tape burnt on her skin as it was teared apart, but she ignored it and got rid of it, before rubbing her wrists to soothe the pain.

Riley took another deep breath and pretended everything was alright, using the ancestral method of ''fake it until you make''. She carefully swiped the tears on her face with her sleeves before taking her sweater off, and she walked in the room. Square, devoid of any kind of opening, the air was heavy and there no aeration. No opening.

Only the door then.

Proving that nothing could kill optimism, Riley turned the handle to see if Echo had left it open. She was not surprised when she found it locked.

Even if it was not, Echo was not far. She did not know where she was, how many people were here, and she knew from experience that she could not run faster than a bullet.

She took a step back, a terrible smile on her face as she recognized that she could not save herself. Or at least, not with the normal part of herself.

She sat. She has reached the point where plain panic was so strong that her brain was tricking her with a false sense of peace. The kind one felt in their final moments.

The tattoo on her back was a black rune engraved just behind her heart, still pulsing with light pain. The artist had apologized several time as he was creating it, but at that time, Riley had been too busy containing the geist to pay attention to something so mundane as pain. She clenched her teeth as she awkwardly passed a hand on it. It was difficult to reach but she did her best.

She placed her nails on her skin with caution, sensing exactly where the lines of ink were. And she pushed them into her skin, but did not manage to pierce it. She couldn't help it, her mind could not accept the idea of hurting herself and was keeping her from putting too much strength behind her actions.

Riley stopped fighting the anxiety. In this place, there was no one to hide from.

Every bad thoughts she was constantly blocking so she could keep functioning rushed at her and she let herself be flooded. She thought about the agony. Even if it was quick, she knew the embrace of a remnant lasted an eternity, no matter how long it was near. And she knew it would not end with her.

She thought about her parents. How they would either think she was dead, missing, or maybe the remnant would come to them and they would learn to know the cold she has been hiding from them all this time. She thought of people like Teddy, hurt beyond reason until they were twisted, except the face they would see in their dreams would be hers.

Remnants were not interesting because they were phenomenons that could reveal the secrets of the universe. They were nightmares and they would be used as such.

Riley scratched the flesh of the tattoo, pain bursting in her but she did not show anything as anger was giving her strength. Anger at herself for being so stupid. But pure fury at Echo.

She teared the specific spot of flesh, different kind of pain bursting in her nerves. The sharp pain of cutting her own skin, almost clear as it was so simple. The deepest pain as she went over the wound, almost digging. The burning one as blood was in contact with her fingers, dirt infiltrating her bloodstream.

Remnants were a nightmare. So was Riley.

Blood was running on her back when she felt the cold hugging her bare skin and heard a whisper calling her name.

Not from within.

Whatever they used to sceal her powers, it was sturdy enough to withstand the damage of the rune.

She stopped and let her shirt fall back, and the fabric started to cling on the wound. Her nails were covered in blood and pieces of skin so she swiped her hand on her jean. The cold reached her, surrounding her, leaving her the time to understand there was nothing else to do anymore.

A dark form was crouched on the corner of the room, all in shifting shadows that were cloaking its shape. A remnant showing itself.

_**A courtesy from a special one to another.** _

It spoke in words no human throat could reproduce, a language forgotten but Riley still managed to understand it.

The cold was burning at the edge of her mind, taking a hold on her as she clenched her teeth. It surrounded her, pressed her and she began to cry again as she recognized it. The hunger of something that saw her as food, and the pain of everything that should stay buried in the depths of her mind being brought to the surface.

« Fuck you. »

The pressure got more powerful and she pushed back, the same way she pushed back the geist when it was gnawing on her, and how she pushed back the dark thoughts that used to eat all her energy.

It was not enough to push the remnant away. It was just enough to keep it from going deeper.

The remnant disappeared but not the frost that was sweeping over her.

 _ **It's going to happen**_ , it whispered in her ear, now on her left. Its presence was almost solid.

 _I am strong_. Riley thought.

_**Not anymore.** _

« You're nothing, just the shadow of a person dead for years, while I am here, » she reminded him.

Shards of ice pierced her and she felt as she was going to break into pieces.

« I survived everything life threw at me, » she gritted between her teeth. « And I. Will. Keep. Going. »

_**You did survive.** _

She turned toward it but it was already gone. Just a shadow in the corner of her eye and a cold presence she couldn't escape.

_**What about everyone else ?** _

She felt so cold she couldn't move. She was just standing here, and there was nothing she could do to save herself.

« What about showing yourself ? » she managed to say.

It did.

One moment ago, there was nothing in front of her. The next, the remnant appeared as if it was always here.

It had her face. A perfect reflection of her if the mirror had been made of darkness. It looked at her with her own dark eyes, breathing deeply and with the hint of a smile as it fed of her fear.

«  _ **What about the people around you, unlucky enough to meet you ?**_  » the remnant asked.

It was right, of course it was.

It was also playing with her to extract more of her. Using words to extract more complex emotions. What she used to do when she wanted to feed quickly without using too much power to break someone's resistance.

She breathed and mist came out of her mouth.

It was working.

« You're nothing. »

The geist tilted her head as anger was piercing the cold for a brief moment, filling her with strength.

« You're nothing more than a ghost. You played and you died, and now you're clinging to life. »

The eyes of the remnant, her own eyes, went cold.

It leaned back. Nothing, just a slight movement. It was enough.

Riley snarled at him. « I am strong. I've been through Hell and I am carrying it with me every day of my life. »

And for a moment, she pushed back the cold and the remnant lost its smile.

Before grinning even more widely. It surged forwards and grabbed her face before she had the chance to do anything, fingers of ice sinking in her jaws and pain pulsing through her. It was so close she could breath the cold.

«  _ **If you had been allowed to live, you would have learned that nothing is more delicious than hope turned into despair**_. »

She was falling. She was still, staying in place thanks to the grip of the remnant, but she was falling and falling at the same time.

The remnant pressed its lips to hers, and the cold became her everything. Darkness grabbed her as something infiltrated who she was, growing stronger and more powerful as she could do nothing to stop it.

The remnant broke everything she was with ease, before claiming her life.

 

  


  


 

 


	22. Chapter 22

 

**Monday**

  


Alien. Everything was alien and strange. A flesh she did not recognize on breakable bones, muscles that were doing something without her actually understanding how. Her fingers were moving in front of her, light and fast, responding to her thoughts, but they did not look like they were actually hers.

She heard the door being unlocked, the noise too loud. She did not raise her head as someone entered, preferring to stretch her senses to feel the newcomer. And she found nothing. No beautiful warmth to see, no blinding light where to feed.

She turned toward the agent, Echo, hidden from her by an artefact. The woman was holding a phone and was looking at her with awe. Echo smiled, and there was so much warmth in it that she felt herself salivating. Life, so near.

Echo knelt in front of her, her hands on the handles of the metallic chair.

She could clearly see the edge of the void that was hiding her, a sharp contrast with the traces of energy in the room. Such a void was now obvious.

« Can you understand me ? » Echo asked, wonder and admiration in her voice. Her hands moved and placed itself on the knee of the remnant. The heat of her flesh was passing through the jeans and was in contact with bare skin, where there were holes.

Slowly, she nodded and Echo grinned like a child.

« He wants to talk to you. I know you need time to get used to this, but there is a situation that needs to be handled. »

Awkwardly, she took the phone and listened. The world of light and dark seemed more real than the world of flesh.

« Didn't I tell you I could give you what you want ? » a man's voice said at the other end of the line, his tone light and cheerful, like someone who knew his wishes would be granted. A voice that she recognized.

How interesting.

She felt the warmth outside and the cold inside her, and she reached them at the same time, creating mist. Pain burst in her head, as she was taking too much and too fast. But she was beyond pain.

For Riley was furious.

She let go and the mist rammed into Echo, making her fly until she was stopped abruptly by the wall. Another burst of mist hit her, making her bones crunch with a satisfying sound and the agent couldn't help a cry.

« What is happening ? » screamed the voice in the phone. « Situation ! »

Riley let go of the phone and got out of the chair. Her body felt unreal, but the only clear thing was the remnant, the one that had tried to devour her, inside her, screaming. Except it was in her grip and she had no intention to let go.

Echo tried to get up but she was punched with another blast of mist. The invisible force just slamming into her, breaking the fragile bones and crushing the flesh until sweet Echo was broken everywhere.

It hurt. It hurt so much, like someone pouring gazoline inside her skin and cracking a match, but fury was helping her to stand, to keep going. It was the cold one, the icy realization that everything was wrong because she had let it happen. A mistake she would not do again.

« Riley, » Echo called, her eyes wide with terror.

Riley pointed one finger without looking at her, telling her to wait a moment without using any word. She had more interesting things to do.

Inside her, the remnant screamed and the geist laughed as it eat it alive.

No, she laughed from the inside, pleasure rushing though her as she was taking her prey apart, for she was the remnant. She knew it, the truth clear in her veins and written in gold letters on her bones.

Echo was right, she couldn't stop being who she was. Nothing could, and the geist had just been waiting, trapped inside her. And the remnant had came to her, where they were waiting. Then, will against will. The remnant wanted to live again. She wanted to destroy everything in her wake.

She had won. Barely. But it had been enough.

The remnant was just a shadow of what he was, but was still trying to escape, fighting not to disappear as he was trapped in the chains of her will, its hope and will feeding her, making her stronger.

She squeezed it in the jaws of her will, letting it the time to understand that he never had a chance. That by the time she had it in her grip, there was nothing left to do. She let it realize this. Then she ripped it apart.

More heat that she ever felt flooded her, making her stagger as she dealt with all the delicious energy rushing through her, soothing the pain of using her powers and making her more.

For the first time in forever, she was not hungry anymore.

Riley turned towards Echo. Of course, that did not mean she needed to be hungry to love food.

« I wanted to thank you, » Riley said, and Echo shivered, from pain and from fear. One of her legs was so broken the white of the bone could be seen here and there.

« Riley, I was trying... »

The cold rushed to her, seeing her as the anomaly in a world of light and shadows. Nothing was so empty, and now than she was stronger, Riley could see where she hid, like a child hiding behind his hands hoping it would be enough.

Echo was weak. Riley had let her do that to her.

The cold became a blade and pierced at the void, revealing a golden treasure behind it and Echo paled as Riley broke through her defense with ease. The pressure on her mind was maddening but she did not care.

« Thank you for making me understand I don't owe anything to anyone, » Riley said, her voice calm and almost sweet. « I don't have to protect you from what I am. »

She crouched down to face Echo, like she had done with her when Riley had begged her not to betray her. She could see in her eyes that the agent was recognizing the situation.

« And the worse was that day, » Riley explained to her. « That perfect day where I could see everything I was supposed to have. I could live without that, because I know life isn't fair. Because I always thought it was worth it, always ! Until now. You made me think I could escape that shitty life full of monsters and despair and you took that from me while pretending you were doing me a favor. »

The cold whipped and Echo tried to scream as warmth was stolen from her. There was no subtlety here, just taking what Riley wanted and leaving a broken mess behind. Echo sobbed, terrified and crying like the little girl she had been before turning into someone able to leave a trusting young woman to a nightmare.

Riley touched her cheek and pushed her so Echo would be looking at her.

« You feared I become a monster, » she noticed with a soft voice. Don't worry. »

Her fingers sank into Echo's jaws, making her whimper.

« I will be worse, » Riley promised. « I will be a demon. I will be a fiend, a walking nightmare, and I am coming for all of you ! I will burn this world to the ground because might makes right ! »

And she smiled, a bright cheerful smile that had no place here.

« And you're first, love. »

Echo tried to scream. She tried, and tried so much as Riley was having fun with her, but she never let her. She destroyed everything Echo was and never allowed her to make a sound.

  


*

  


Riley got out of the basement and breathed the cool air of the night, feeling the phantom presences of the guards on the large wooden property. Pointing their whereabouts were difficult but if she could feel their presence, she could reach them.

And she also felt them moving toward her. She rolled her eyes. She knew she should have hung up the phone but at the time, she was having too much fun to care.

Only one thing to do, then.

« Save yourself, kill them all, » she told the night with a smile.

 _So be it_ , roared the geist.

  


*

  


They were waiting for her. They were prepared to deal with her, to eliminate the threat.

It didn't matter, for she has made an oath.

She tracked them down, all of them, all those pockets of void among the warmth, all these mighty warriors, all this glorious food.

Some of them never saw what was coming. They were walking in the dark, trying to find her, a subtle cold everywhere but they couldn't know if it was because of her or because of the fresh night. Doubt fed doubt, weakening them, and she fed out of sight until they fell, drained, understanding too late what happened.

Others met messier ends. They got too close, they saw her, and she hit them before they had the time to react. Mist broke them, kill them, and she feed on them as they died.

Riley destroyed them one by one, quickly. She didn't want to wreck them, she wanted them gone, until there was no trace they existed.

  


*

 

Riley was walking on the road, with no idea of where she actually was. She had no phone, no car, and she was not the type to direct herself by following the stars or anything that the scouts did nowadays.

She didn't mind. She was not tired and the night was beautiful and soothing. She would eventually reached civilization and she enjoyed this calm for now.

She made sure to stay near the shadows so her own would stay hidden. It was different now, too black, too big and didn't look like her own. Or maybe it was reflecting her true self.

Eitherway, if she wanted to catch a car, terrifying drivers had to be avoided. Or at least, not until their cars were stopped and she had a chance to hop in.

How come she was always finding people around when she wanted to be left alone, but when she actually needed someone, everyone decided to be sensible and sleep at night not to bother anyone ?

The cold swirled around her, responding to her temper, and she let it roam around with a new fondness. There was no more hunger, no more turmoil, only blatant truth. She did not have to protect anyone, for she owed them nothing.

She had killed. People who deserved it and people who did not.

She was a monster.

She failed to see what was wrong with that. In a world of monsters, someone like her was the norm. In a world where people hurt each other for profit or for their enjoyment, a monster like her was a good reminder.

She reached for the traces of warmth around her, forcing it to turn into something more powerful. Mistlike and invisible force whirled around her fingers, while shards of pain were piercing her.

But it was less painful than when Teddy Lewis had shot at her. And less than when Samuel's car had been stopped before it ran her over. That meant something could be done with it.

She was still experimenting when she saw a car coming at her. Well, not at her, which was a welcomed change, but driving in her direction. She raised her arm, her thumb up.

The car passed by her before stopping so abruptly she heard the shrieking of the tires.

It was a silver Audi.

The car moved slowly backwards and stopped next to her. From the driver seat, Lucas looked at her with the most curious expression. As if he was extremely frustrated but not surprised.

As if Riley's headache was not bad enough.

« What are you doing here ? » she asked, suddenly really tired.

The cold touched him subtly, getting the measure of the blatant void behind which he was hiding. _She could see him now._

Lucas passed a hand on his face and looked deliciously annoyed.

« I came to rescue you. »

Riley struggled with that for a second.

« Well, you're late. » she informed him.

« I don't even know why I bothered. You're practically immortal. It's the spiteful ones that live the longest. »

« Yes, and we will rule the world, » Riley barked as she got around the car to sit in the passenger seat. She struggled with the handle and Lucas leaned to open the car door from the inside. « What were you doing while I did all the work ? »

He glared at her when she closed the door a little too roughly and she raised her hands, silently apologizing.

« I obviously spent my day watching Netflix and chilling, » Lucas said after making sure his car was still in one piece despite Riley's presence. « What about you ? »

« My Batman gambit to learn the truth about the other remnant worked. »

Lucas turned on the engine and they made a heroic effort not to call each other on their bullshit.

« I know who is the remnant's partner, » she told him. « I recognized its voice, but I don't know where he lives. »

« Give me a name and I can find him for you. Can I count on you for the remnant ? »

Riley tried to contain a smile : « Don't worry about the remnant. »

« I will. You can't catch them all like some crazy cat lady. »

« I ate it, » she explained.

Lucas stared at her, his eyes suddenly wide.

Riley smiled at him.

He rolled his eyes before looking at the road as if he was blaming it for everything that was wrong with the world : « I am not even surprised. »

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For there is nothing sweeter than hope turned into despair and nothing as powerful as despair turned into hope.
> 
> I regret nothing, for I feed on your pain.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looking for the truth, for it is the only thing that's left.

 

Thomas Maxwell went down the stairs, carrying two leather bags in his hands despite the late hour. At the beginning of his forties, he had the kind of face that was not only beautiful but that also inspired trust. His casual but expensive clothes highlighted his tall and lean body, as if he was used to run. Moreover, five minutes of conversation with him revealed a warm personality and a sarcastic but never mean sense of humor.

That made him a well-loved professor at the University. He taught photography, from how to make them to the interpretation of images coming from all around the world, from exposition to the work of war reporters. His course was captivating and everyone was welcome, some students that were not on the list even sitting on the floor .

He walked through the leaving room, absentmindedly reaching for his keys on the console near the door and stopped when he couldn't find them. He dropped the bags and looked around, cursing under his breath.

Until he heard the tinkling and silvery sound behind him. He froze, before slowly turning around to see Riley, sitting at his table, her fingers around a Coke can taken from his own fridge, and his keys in her others hand.

« People never pay enough attention to their surroundings, don't you think Professor ? »

« Indeed, » Maxwell answered with an amused smile and a quick glance to the door. For a moment, she wondered if he would make a run for it and qhe waited with eagerness to see what he would choose.

« I would propose you to make yourself at home but... » he pointed at her can with a laugh and she laughed back. Her smile was cheerful, pleasant, but she didn't bother to hide her eyes. They were dark blue, and there was no warmth in them, just a cold curiosity.

They weren't the eyes of a human being.

« Echo told you about me ? » she asked even as she knew the answer. Beautiful sweet warmth had appeared around him as soon as he saw her, the traces of it moving towards Riley, attracted by what she was.

Maxwell nodded, his face now a mask of polite surprise as he was trying to predict what she was about to do, and walked to her as if he didn't have a care in the world. He looked at her with wonder and soft eyes, with the look of someone that gave his entire attention and that was what made him such an appreciated teacher.

He looked around, careful not to betray any signs of nervosity despite the constant shimmer he gave off. She took a sip from her can, savoring the sweet taste before setting it down on the wooden table and licking her lips to clean them.

« I am alone, if that's what you're asking yourself. So are you, I met your partner and... Well, it found out it wasn't stronger than me. »

Maxwell sat in front of her, an amused smile on his lips. « All this time thinking the remnant were a dead people, and you appear. Is this a recessive gene or did your mother was influenced by something from the Depths during the pregnancy ? Did something activate your gift ? So many questions... »

« That's the problem with so-called experts. The only thing we shall know is that we know nothing. »

He raised an eyebrow, probably wondering how a linguist could know his favorite saying.

« I sat in one of your classes several times, » she explained. « Do you remember me ? »

He hesitated, studying her face as he tried to read her expression.

« Don't lie to me, I won't take offense, » Riley reassured him. « I wasn't even on the lists but there was a bright blond with me. Always in a good mood, passionate about everything, she wore several dreadful Christmas sweaters... »

« Alexia Stewart. I remember her dragging a friend to my course several times now that I think about it.. »

He did remember her.

« Well, your course was at 9 am and I appreciate my sleep more than the fine art of photography. »

« I concur. You have no idea how hard I fought so my class wouldn't be at 8 in the morning. »

They both sighted. Academics.

« What was your deal with the remnant ? »

« It's a long story, » he admitted.

The cold passed over him in an amused caress. Maxwell paled, even though his pleasant smile stayed in place.

« I'm all ears, » Riley informed him before drinking more.

He shrugged with good grace, admitting that yes, he probably deserved that.

« Remnants are the most powerful, terrible and beautiful creatures the Depths have given to us, but they are just a shadow of their former self. No one is sure of how they died, even if the consensus leaned on them killing each other. Their most known power, feeding on life, is just a passive ability. They do not use their powers, because it would mean taking from their reserves. »

Riley tried to imagine what would have happened if Echo had a fully invested remnant loyal to the cause. She had destroyed sixteen highly trained mercenaries who were supposed to be protected against her. Someone like her, who knew their powers and could completely unleash them would have been a disaster.

« I found my remnant into a place where there was a lot of its peers, » Maxwell explained. « I was protected by every spell known to men, but the backlash of their presence was so strong I couldn't even enter. I had to stay outside and wait for some of them to take notice. »

Knowing them, they had immediately taken notice and made him wait. Time has no meaning for them, after all.

« It took me two months, two months of sacrifice, of magic, of proof I was worthy. I tried five times, and by the end of it, every member of my crew was dead. Some had tried to flee and were shredded to pieces as a game by the remnants, others just died more and more everyday until their bodies got the memos. »

« But you found one. »

He smiled. « Yes, I found one. He asked me if I wanted power. If I wanted vengeance. If I wanted men to fear me and women to love me with perfect devotion. » Maxwell's eyes were full of laughter. « As if I didn't know he wanted to shove this contract sideways down my throat. They are good at this, you know ? Granting your wish and making you regret it... »

_You don't say._

« ...Instead, I asked for his loyalty as long as I lived. In exchange, he would be alive again and free to roam after my natural death. »

Remnants were timeless. Sixty years as a henchman were nothing compared to a second chance at life.

« Quite an oath. »

He shrugged, as if it wasn't much but there were traces of smugness here and there.

« With the both of us, I knew we could do it. So we tried several times. We took strong subjects, even volunteers at first. But they broke down as soon as the remnant got too close. If it had been merely a matter of physical strength, we could have easily solved it. But there was more. We needed subtlety, and more importantly, we needed people whose soul could withstand so much pressure. »

« It's fascinating, » Riley admitted. She was actually surprised by how avid for details she was. It was a whole story that had happened in parallel with her, while she was certain she was alone on her freak statut. There was a whole world she did not suspect until now, and she was hungry for answers.

« Well, thank you ! » Maxwell said, genuinely flattered.

« I mean, this is incredibly wrong but the whole thing is fascinating. »

He frowned. « What do you mean ? »

« You don't want to take those who have nothing to fear. You want to take those with issues. People who have never been hurt don't know how to keep going, how to protect themselves and the remnant uses this. But people with traumas are strong. They know how to exist with a pressure that could destroy most people. »

« I never thought of it like that. »

It was obvious to Riley, but someone like Maxwell had probably never had to deal with mental health issues, and could not know what it was like to fight an invisible battle everyday of his life. The world didn't acknowledge it, so they had to keep going in silence.

Not that it was a problem for her anymore. Riley's mind was a peaceful lake.

« Please continue. »

« I assume you want to know about Mr. Lewis ? I never intended for a shooting or any violent acts. »

« Could have fooled me. » Her voice had gained an edge, as the geist was closer to the surface.

Maxwell looked a little embarrassed. « The plan was simply to use the remnant's feeding time to see more about his abilities. Lewis was one of the candidates I had chosen from my courses. Popular, strong personality, even mood, and charismatic. We agreed to take this opportunity to see if we could change his behavior. »

_For science, for sure._

« We were aiming for mildly anti-social, which would have also allowed us to make his defenses thinner. He exceeded our expectations. By the time we reached him, his psyche crumbled too much for him to be useful. And we learned there was another remnant. A remnant strong enough to fight mine, even thought he was incredibly well-fed. »

Saved by her stubbornness. Again.

« Echo wanted to recruit you, until she saw a chance to use you for my project, » he continued. « This was judged the better course of action as another cabal was making a move on this town. So Echo decided to quicken your decision. I learned later that a third party had been wronged by Mallory and Echo gave him his wife and daughter's location, before calling you with the girl's number. »

Riley did not react. She hasn't not seen that coming, but no reaction to these news troubled her. It just made sense. She remembered the phone call where no one had talked and that Samuel had found his family at such a convenient time.

Echo betrayed her more than she thought. She had sicced Samuel on his family, on her, and after that, he had the nerve to pretend she was acting for Riley's own good.

« Telling me how I have been manipulated is a bold move, » she told him despite not bearing any ill-will toward him. Her emotions were perfectly under control after the events of this night.

« You are not the kind to be hurt in your pride by the facts. You're a predator with keen intelligence, and you're beyond common human weaknesses. You're here to learn more, and I am treating you with all the respect that is due to you. That's all. »

Riley let the barely civil mask she was holding on until now slip and showed the hunger for answers she was feeling, clawing at her insides. Maxwell smiled as if he was seeing a thing of pure beauty.

« Tell me more. Tell me about Alexia. »

_Tell me if all the blame is on me._

« Alexia was radiant. But you must know that better than anyone. I saw her and I knew she was a thing of light, even before he told me. The day he decided to make her his prey was the day he met a remnant. You, actually, but at the time, we thought our remnant was unlucky enough to meet another one, and that they fought over the same prey, with disastrous consequences. »

The echos of a memory flooded her, a cold that had seeped inside her bones and blind urgency as she just wanted to get out. She pushed it away.

« I remember, » she simply said.

She didn't thought she had let anything show on her face but Maxwell averted his gaze for a second, giving her space to deal with it. « I am sorry. It must have been difficult to live. »

« Don't worry about me, » she smiled before drinking more. The can was almost empty. « What will happen to you now that the remnant you made a contract with is gone ? »

« You weren't born into the community, I take it? »

« You already know that, » she reminded him, then took another sip. If Echo had told him about her, she must not have stopped at ''Guess what, there is a new remnant in town !''

He smiled again, this quick and charming smile of his, like a child that was surprised with the hand in the cookie jar. « Power is everything for us. And knowledge is power. I had a high position because I was a link between the remnant and the rest of my organization. Now... Well, I am a master of my arts, and I will find other ways to make myself useful. »

He looked at her and there was no fear, not even worry in his eyes.

« After all, there is a reason why you I am still breathing and talking, isn't there Riley ? »

They both smiled at each other.

« I know more about remnants than everyone in the world, even you, » he said, and Riley could feel the truth in his every word. « I can and will tell you secrets about yourself that you would need decades to start suspecting. And by the time I teach you all of it... You would be a god centuries before your time. »

Riley finished her drink and looked at his hopeful and utterly confident face.

She couldn't take it anymore and she finally laughed at him. Maxwell's eyes widened and she couldn't help another one.

« I must say this wasn't planned., » she finally admitted with a smile that did its best not to be laughter anymore. « You... You thought I was here to hire you or something ? » She showed her can. « I just wanted to finish my Coke ! »

She turned it over, showing that it was finished to the last drop.

« You wanted to know more about the effect of a remnant's power, right ? »

Cold whipped and crashed into him, taking hold of Maxwell before he had the time to do anything.

« You destroyed so many people, Thomas Maxwell. In what world did you think you could get away with it ? »

  


*

  


Riley had entered the house a little after midnight.

The sun was up when she left it.

  


*

  


At 10 am, Riley strolled in Rachel's hospital room as if she didn't have a care in the world. An almost exact copy of the one where Riley had fallen asleep after being shot at and before appearing into a scene worthy of a horror movie. Except, of course, there was no woman with a stab wound at the time.

The painkillers must have been strong because Rachel immediately sat when she saw who had entered, fear on her face and warmth around her.

« Surprise, bitch ! Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me ? » she announced cheerfully.

If Rachel's expression could be trusted, Alexia's mother has actually been actively hoping and praying for it.

« Don't worry, I am not going to hurt you, » Riley assured with a large smile. « I am just here to tell you the truth. »

« The truth ? »

« Indeed. I am responsible. I am responsible for what happened to Alexia, because I am a monster. Make no mistake, I am not apologizing because I don't have any way to fix it and I will have to live with that. But you deserve to know the truth. »

Even without all the elements, Riley had always knew what had happened. She remembered the feeling of pulling more and more power of her surroundings as something was facing her. The both of them feeding on everything around them, as the world had faded, leaving only variations of energy.

Riley looked at that woman that had kept insisting for her to call her by her first name, that had thanked her for being such a good friend to her daughter...

« Another monster had already found Alexia, then he saw me around his prey, so he targeted me, tried to destroy me. It didn't succeed and we destroyed everything around us, fed on everyone around us until there was nothing left and I forced myself to flee, and I took what was left of my best friend with me. »

… This woman that had handed her to a remnant.

Anger was a funny thing. She had made sure to contain the emotion all night, a choice to be more efficient, but anger always pierced the cold on her mind.

« And that monster, so like me, » Riley continued « so like me you wouldn't believe it, was send by the same person you asked for help. Because they needed a way yo convince me, and you were it. The closest thing that was left of the girl I trust the most, that I love the most. What was your deal ? Me for her ? I can't even blame you. »

She saw Rachel realizing her mistake, understanding that she had let the people who hurt her daughter do whatever they wanted, even pay them for the privilege. She saw the hurt, felt it, and fed on it. And that made her glad.

« And by the way, I kind of lied. Truth hurts like hell and I want you to hurt because your actions put me through a pain you couldn't imagine. »

Riley bowed and left the room. Further down the hallway, Lucas was leaning on the wall, arm crossed. Making sure she wasn't killing anyone under his watch. Maxwell had been offered on a silver platter, but Alexia and her family were still persons of interest.

« Do you feel better ? » he asked.

« The point was for her to feel worse, » she informed him before leaving all of them.

It had been ages since she had seen her parents.

  


  


 

 


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I will make you see.

 

**A month later**

  


Two weeks had been enough for most of the students to deal with the shooting, then the fortuitous accident involving an extremely loved professor. A heart attack, seemingly. But time healed all and life had to go on. Those who weren't directly involved started to heal, the others also did or pretended to get better.

And Riley was among them. She went back to college after spending two full weeks with her parents. She hanged out with the girls in her dorm, with Erin, complained about the unexpected hot weather with Shae, the girl she had spooked at night once, and laughed and smirked with Alexia's friend during the day. Some of them confided that she looked much better, Shae had even asked her if she had met someone. Riley simply smiled at that, and they smiled back.

Without even meaning to, Riley took Alexia's place in their group. As if there was a hole with a similar shape that had been waiting for her all this time. Not that the two best friends were the same. Alexia was a force of nature, always aiming to be better and others followed her lead because she made them somehow believe in themselves. Riley was something else, all in tranquil force and sarcastic remarks, and people started to look for her company. Seeking someone that seemed to always understand them without judgement, allowing them to reveal themselves, the good and the bad.

And none of them suspected how her smile disappeared and how her eyes went cold every time she was out of sight.

Well, some did. Some of them noticed how she paused at things that weren't there, they shuddered when the world was sometimes colder around her, and some were impressed and slightly creeped out by how she seemed to know things she shouldn't. But only for a second, then she smiled back, frowned, laughed, and they understood it was nothing.

Regularly, she felt a familiar void out of sight, as someone watched her. She made a point to text to Lucas to say hi when he was around, rarely enough to let him think his hiding device was still working, but often enough to make him wonder if she managed to see him nevertheless.

So she took her life back. She allowed herself to feel like a human being during the day, giving to her entourage what they expected and what they needed. And during the night, she indulged herself. And she learned. Learned about a world she had never suspected, about people with strange abilities, warmer than most, that hunted and/or were hunted.

A woman, so beautiful that looking at her was almost painful, taking a confused couple with her. A man whose shadow did not look like him. Another whistling as he stalked another man with fear in his eyes. A whole group of people that moved just a little too fast that had trapped some other people into an alley.

And their preys, always with the same look in their eyes. As they knew. They knew no one was coming to save them.

Riley never actually looked for them. But now that she knew, she noticed them. Her eyes had been opened and now, going back was impossible. And well... Even thought she did not need to hunt anymore, not when her geist was still filled up by the meal the remnant had given to her...

She had went back home with this beautiful woman, standing between the couple and her so they had the time to run and the spell had been broken as the cold smashed through it. She had appeared next to the strange man with the stranger shadow as he locked someone in the trunk of his car and by the time his victim had got out, the man had ran as if the Devil was on his heels and she was gone. She had lurked behind the lurker, hiding her presence before revealing it in all her terrible majesty. She had followed the pack into the alley, and only the three teenagers and her had left it.

She never killed anyone during her strolls. She just reminded them that there was worse haunting the night.

Life was more interesting now that she had accepted who she was. Playing the role of the new Alexia distracted her with the added benefice of enjoying her new friends' company. Hunting for pure fun was thrilling, and no crime was ever committed.

And she had Alexia back, travelling around the country while spamming her inbox, and always refusing to answer any question about what happened with her mother. Riley had been woken up five times by pictures of cats before she threatened to track Alexia down if she was not more mindful of her schedule.

On a sunny Monday, none of the usual reasons brought her to the park. She walked around, stretching her senses, feeling the warmth of the fresh air enthusiasts, mindful of a specific nothing.

She enjoyed her walk, hiding the cold as soon as someone was in sight, alternating between the remnant and the woman, until she got out of the park at noon and reached the italian restaurant that was right outside of it. Mallory and Lucas were already at a table.

Riley pretended not to notice the pockets of void here and there, out of sight. Someone had brought his whole team to talk to the big bad remnant. She looked for the one the farthest away, and took a detour, walking right next to the trees and hoping she wouldn't be easily noticed thanks to it.

She stopped next to a blue car, the kind a soccer mom would have so she could drive an army of children to the museum or whatever the little goblins did these days, and knocked on the roof.

The asian soldier, korean if she had to bet, almost jumped from his seat, his hand suddenly moving and stopping before he could reach his weapon. He became calm again in a second, and smiled at her. That wasn't the case of the dark-skinned young man next to him, one she had never seen. He had a compass on his lap.

« Hi ! » Riley said, in an incredible cheerful mood now that she had the occasion to spook someone, « I know we have been introduced, but I just can't remember your name. » She looked at the man that was his age or slightly older. « You, I don't know. »

« I am no one, » he said quickly, warmth appearing in a regular wave from him. He was trying to keep an eye on her and the compass at the same time.

« Hi, Riley ! You can call me Mitchell, » the soldier said before holding out his hand. She immediately shook it. Gentle, not firm enough even though he couldn't lack strength, so he was being careful. « I didn't think you would even remember me. »

He turned toward his young colleague : « Don't worry, she doesn't want to hurt us. »

Indeed.

« But I am curious to know what this is, » she informed them while pointing the compass.

« Nothing that works, obviously, » he said, a sour note in his voice.

She nodded, thinking about it. And she let the geist come right under the surface, power and instinct rushing through her while her cheerful mood was shushed away.

The compass slowly pointed at her, confirming her suspicion.

The young guy looked like he wanted to disappear, but Mitchell wasn't worried. This made her smile and the geist sluggishly sunk in, and the compass indicated the north again.

« Gentlemen, it was a pleasure but... » She looked back and saw Lucas strolling toward her, a fake smile on his face. Someone was angry. « Lucas wants to talk to me and Mallory wants to treat me to a lunch. »

Lucas smiled at her, and she smiled back, as if they weren't considering killing each other. Not because they hated each other, but it was more about a respect between fellow predators. If one of them decided to attack the other, they had to be ready. It was less of a distrust than common sense.

A courtesy from a special one to another, as a certain someone would have said.

« I am spiriting you away before you sic the cops on more of my men, » he declared.

« I would never do that, » she told him honestly as they started walking. « Last time, I just notice out loud next to an extremely anxious neighbor than a strange car was in front of our dorm. »

« So you manipulated someone so they could act on your best interests without them ever knowing or being troubled by it. No wonder Mallory likes you. »

As if on cue, Mallory raised his head and looked at Lucas from across the place. Tall, Dark, and Annoying didn't fail to notice.

« He always knows. »

« So does Alexia. But for us, it's a best friends thing. »

He shrugged, not inclined to confirm or deny it. « Mathilda is fine, » he said instead.

« I know. She is getting used to her new home, and as for her parents... Well, she seems to be as fine as she can be, I guess. »

Lucas seemed genuinely surprised. « I don't know if you actually care or if you're good at pretending. »

« Maybe I'm so good at pretending I don't know if I actually care ? Or maybe I choose what to care about. Your opinion, for example, isn't worth much. »

« Are you pretending to be in a bad mood or are you choosing to be ? » he mocked her.

« What are you talking about ? This is my excellent mood, with sunny disposition and everything ! »

Even Lucas couldn't help a smile.

They walked to Mallory's table, the waiters watching Lucas suspiciously. He must have dashed out as soon as he had realized Riley had found a member of his team. And Mallory seemed simply too amused, so it must have looked like a mother bear running to save her cubs.

« Riley, glad you could make it ! » Mallory greeted her.

« Mallory. A pleasure, as always. »

Lucas rolled his eyes but hold the chair for her and she sat as he lingered behind her to make her uncomfortable. _Prick._

« We never had the occasion to talk about what happened and I must start by saying how sorry I am for what you had to do. We weren't here despite our deal. »

Lucas was about to say something and Mallory gave him a warning glance. Lucas ignored him : « We were distracted by a war with another cabal, and since we didn't trust each other, we didn't share informations. »

Yes, the talk with Lucas as he dropped her at Maxwell's house had been interesting.

« You didn't tell me Rachel Stewart had refused your help and how you decided to wait until you have results to contact her again, » she reminded them.

« And you fail to mention you have been contacted by another cabal, right under our nose. I thought it was the one when you had obtained your remnant, » Lucas replied.

« And you failed to trust me when I said I had never made a contract. »

Lucas looked offended : « It was a chance in one billion. »

A waiter arrived and asked them if they had made their choice. Pizzas for everyone, and despite Mallory's insistance, he was the only one to take wine. Both Lucas and Riley prefered sodas, with the bottles opened in front of them.

They waited until he was gone, and after a sip of red wine, Mallory continued : « What's interesting in your situation is that you have a gift instead of a contract, but there is no trace of gift in your family. Or at least, none in your mother's line. »

Riley's parents were completely normal, and did not suspect anything wrong with her daughter. Not because they didn't pay attention, but because she was really an expert at pretending everything was fine. Another thing people with problems where really good at.

« You know something about my father's line ? » Riley asked.

« None of the usual spotters sensed anything, but maybe it jumped a generation. Unfortunately, Syria's record are difficult to access for obvious reasons. »

And that wasn't creepy at all...

« And this background check was before of after I found Maxwell ? »

« Before. Hence why we thought you had a contract. But that's not why I wanted to talk to you. »

Lucas slightly tensed, ready to act. Riley pretended not to notice and drank again.

« Do tell. »

« How are the studies going ? » Mallory asked.

Lucas, of all people, gave him a warning look.

« Going, » she simply answered.

« I looked at your credentials. You speak five languages fluently, and you have multiple internships to your credit. Every report mentioned that you were an excellent problem solver. You were interested in edition, weren't you ? »

Lucas had a neutral face but a look of pure horror in his eyes.

« And I say ''were'', because the place offered by Felix Stewart was not an option anymore after what happened to Alexia, » Mallory continued. « What are your plans, if I can ask ? »

« I am actually thinking about taking a year for myself. »

Riley was in the frightening situation of a student who suddenly had no job despite planning everything around it. And what happened with Echo had not let her the time to find a solution, so she was still considering her options. Her parents would agree with her choice, whatever it was, especially after all that happened this year. But despite her desire to know more about what was happening around her, living thanks to her parents' money displeased her.

Of course, living on her own was still an option with a less than orthodox use of her geist.

Lucas was staring at Mallory, but he was ignoring him.

« Of course, » Mallory said. « And I guess you don't know yet where you would like to work next ? »

« I am leaving my options opened. »

Mallory smiled.

« It turns out that I have an opening in my organization. »

« Oh. »

Oh was a good word. It kept the conversation going while not revealing anything. Next to Mallory, Lucas was glaring at his friend.

« It would be a job on the field, with a lot of travel, but I can assure you that whoever has the job would also have a pay worth the trouble. Someone with your talents could be useful to my cabal, but I do not intend to hire a remnant. With the money involved, I ask for more than natural gift. »

There was a ''thump'' under the table, and since Mallory's smile froze for a second, it probably meant that Lucas had kicked him in the leg.

Riley was deeply aware that she was wearing a white T-shirt with the words ''Don't let the Muggles get you down.'' written in black letters, and ripped jeans. Not even fashionably ripped jeans, but ''I fell on concrete and actually hurt myself'' style. Not exactly an interview outfit.

« So I am supposed to do my speech now ? » she asked.

« Well, take your time ! I caught you unprepared after all. »

_They promise you a pizza and thow a surprise quizz at you. You can't trust anyone nowadays._

Riley rearranged in her head the standards arguments to say in an interview and Lucas took advantage of it to steal Mallory's glass and emptying it. There was so much pettiness in this action than she got distracted for a second.

Mob, had said Echo, so private security. Supernatural private security or law enforcement. Maybe both.

She could play this game.

« I can handle myself in most situations, even life or death ones, and I take my responsibilities seriously. A deal is a deal, always. Betrayal is not my thing, and if I have a problem with you, I will tell you and leave. No hard feelings. I don't think that anyone knowing my true nature would betray me, because if I die, they would have to deal with a really angry remnant out for blood. Furthermore, I was not born in your world. »

« And how is that an asset ? » Mallory asked.

Riley had no doubt he knew.

« Because you were so convinced that I had made a contract, despite the fact that so many things didn't add up, that you missed a whole organization making a move. Because you thought you knew everything. You all have the same point of view, and I can bring perspective. »

Mallory pretended to think about it. « What about how you work with others? »

« Interacting with people is easy. There are norms, manners, that put people at ease and I know them all. But I am not a teamplayer. Some people are good to create a synergy with others. But sharing responsibilities is taxing for me, my results depending from someone else is distracting. »

Lucas was silently trying to tell Mallory that there was no way in Hell he would accept that. It was impressive to watch and Mallory must have had the best poker face in the world to ignore him so blatantly.

« All good points, » Mallory finally said.

« Oh yes, you should absolutely hire a lone wolf to replace Clark, » Lucas sniped, sarcasm dripping from his every word. « She's put half of my team behind bars and she can take orders as well as a cat, no offense.. »

« None taken, » Riley said, a hand in front of her mouth to hide how it was full of pizza.

« You see ? »

Mallory tried to take his glass then remembered that Lucas had it, so he grabbed it back before pouring more wine.

« I never intended to put Riley on your team, Lucas. You would kill each other and then I would lose my bodyguard and a potential asset. »

He looked back at Riley : « So you should be an agent. You would answer to me only, you would investigate disturbances, find the truth, and you could count on the rest of the cabal to arrest whoever is targeting our customers. »

« No. »

Mallory's eyes widened.

« No ? »

« No, » Riley confirmed.

Even Lucas seemed surprised. Riley simply smiled.

Mallory was about to say something else, but Lucas moved under the table again. Probably touching his arm or his hand. Mallory breathed deeply, looking so disappointed it was almost comical.

« I didn't expect this answer, but I can at least enjoy this lunch. »

Lucas started breathing again as he understood she wouldn't be her coworker.

That was just too tempting.

« You didn't like working with me, Lucas ? »

« It was a delight, especially the part where it stopped, » he answered without missing a beat.

« He meant that the week you worked together was extremely stressful and how grateful he is that you actually solved the case without us, » Mallory said while cutting his food.

« No, I did not, » Lucas denied. « I was almost eaten alive by some monsters during these weeks, one of them even managed to take a bite. It was less haunting than trying to know what was passing through that strange mind of yours. »

Mallory passed a hand on his face and Riley laughed.

The best way to know how a man was made was to tell him no. And with these kind of reactions, Mallory and Lucas seemed almost trustworthy.

Almost.

When she left, Mallory stopped her and gave her a card, swearing that this was the official line of the cabal, and that someone would always answer, would she need something. There was a phone number and a word she had never heard.

Ascalon.

  


*

  


Mallory was still disappointed as Lucas drove him home. At no point had he thought that Riley would refuse his offer. Not when she was a student about to finish college without a job waiting for her.

Meanwhile, Lucas was so relieved that he was probably too high from the endorphines to be driving. He was alternating between smiling and being horrified at the idea of what could have happened.

« So you wanted to hire a remnant ? That was your plan all along ? » he asked as if he still couldn't believe it.

« I did and it was. »

« I knew you were insane, but that's just too much. »

Mallory looked at him and smiled : « Really ? We came here to get rid of a remnant and we found two. Now, one of them is dead and the other is on friendly terms with us. People will know, cabals will understand that we are powerful enough to be on equal terms with a nightmare of the Depths. »

Boston was theirs now. The cabal that was controlling it had been hurt by Lucas and Riley that they had removed themselves to survive, and the gifted people had seen what Ascalon could do when they were attacked and how they would be protected. Power was safety, and a Valentine and a remnant were among the most powerful truebloods.

« Hiring a remnant might have been a little too ambitious, even for you. »

Mallory stayed quiet a moment, until the pressure was too much.

« But I was so sure she would accept ! I was completely expecting her to come back with us ! »

Lucas smiled, now amused. « I can't say I regret it. Riley is a wild card. Amazing, there is no doubt about it, but unpredictable. Is there a reason why you wanted her so much in your cabal ? Tired of me already ? »

« I want to change things and changes come from the top. The most powerful of us are an example for our people, and another trueblood couldn't have hurt us. »

Lucas didn't buy it for a second and glanced at him suspiciously.

« Something else you're hiding ? »

« Always. »

Mallory had wanted someone else to take some of the burden from Lucas' shoulders. Someone who could be a partner instead of a subordinate, who wouldn't fear him despite themselves, and who could get on his nerves, and thus reminding him that he was human.

Valentines were heroes, and the more Lucas was treated as such, the more he was distancing himself from his humanity. And Mallory had to save him from himself before his friend disappeared.

  


  


  


  


  


 

 


	25. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You didn't think that was over, did you?

 

**State of New York, two months later**

 

Sean could hear laughs outside but there was no light to see from who it was coming. Just shadows and hysterical gigglings born from excitation, as if a pack of hyenas had managed to take a human shape.

Their house was isolated, hidden from their neighbors by distance and trees, but there was a streetlamp that was always lighting outside. Except today, and not even the moonlight was there to fight the darkness.

« Sean ? » called his wife with urgency in her voice. « Get away from the window. »

Brenda was holding a shotgun, a somber look on her face. Twenty years ago, Sean had seen her and fallen in love and at her feet. Literally for the latter, a coup de foudre did not mix well with coordination. Six months later, she had told him there was not future for them.

He hadn't understood at the time. He had not thought of how everyone was instantly charmed by Brenda, how her voice resonated strangely in him when she wasn't careful and burst out laughing, and how graceful she could be. She had had to walk him to the lake for him to understand.

Water had been reaching his torso when he had realized he had somehow entered the water, under his girlfriend's mournful expression. He had ran out, leaving Brenda behind. He had found her there the next day, and had told her she was his future, as long as she agreed.

« NECKER ! »

Everyone of them were startled by the scream.

« NECKER ! » a man howled. « COME OUT AND PLAY! »

Tara was hovering over her little brother, as if she was trying to physically shield him from the call. Trent looked like he was ready to leap, tension buzzing trough him. One was seventeen, the other fifteen, and they were every bit as beautiful as their mother.

A week ago, as they were coming back from the swimming pool, as the sun had set, a man had tried to grab Trent and had almost managed to throw him in his car when Tara had come at him with all the fury a big sister could muster and a bagpack full of books. They had ran to a library and waited for their father to pick them up.

All week, they had been followed by men and women with hungry eyes and movements a little too fast.

There was a reason why Brenda forbade any moment out doors at night.

Something crashed through the window and Tara screamed, dragging her brother to the back of the room before freezing as she saw it was only inert rock and not someone.

The laughs grew louder. Closer.

Sean looked at the rock, fear pulsing in him as he was only showing calm. He looked at the breached window. It was reinforced glass.

They could get in.

Sean always considered himself as a pacifist. As a 6 feet 3 black man who somehow easily gained muscles, most people were surprised by how much he hated violence, from disputes on the road to arguments between couples at the supermarket.

However, his pacifism was melting like a snowball in Hell at the idea of someone trying to hurt his family.

« We do not have fifteen minutes, » said Brenda on the phone, her voice deceivingly calm. She paused, frowning. « You don't understand. There is a whole pack of them ! »

Sean heard the sound of a motor. A car was coming in.

If it was one of their neighbor... Ms. Palmer sometimes asked them for ingredients, always promising part of whatever cake she was cooking at the time. For a moment, Sean could clearly see his elderly neighbor being ripped apart. He ran at the window, under the protestations of his wife.

It was a motorbike. The highlights clearly showing the outlines of people wearing leather. A stunned silence had replaced the laughs, and slowly, everyone of them started to approach the driver.

He took off his helmet, revealing a long ponytail. The driver, actually a young woman, freed her hair and it fell in a flowing wave that reached her waist. She said something to them, too quietly for the family to hear.

One of the men laughed and said something back. Sean couldn't have swore it, but the girl seemed to smile before she took the keys out and the lights turned off.

Everything went cold.

For a moment, Sean froze as he felt something huge and bleak passing over him, without stopping but it still took notice. Words were uttered outside but he just couldn't hear them, not when his heart was so loud. Until the noises also ceased. Sean walked back to his family, standing between them and the unnatural silence.

They said nothing. With a glance, he saw that his wife wasn't holding the shotgun anymore. They just stayed together while something scarier than people who had all the rights was lurking outside their house.

The cold was dispelled like the remnants of a bad dream, slowly, begrudgingly. The lights of the bike reappeared and Sean saw the same girl near the motorcycle. And noone in sight.

Brenda touched his arm. « Alone ? » she whispered.

Sean nodded.

« A man ? »

« No. »

Her head tilted, as she was trying to understand what was going on. Brenda was the one in the known for these kind of things, and let her family in the dark on this part of her life. But their children were like her, despite her hopes. And this was Sean's family. It was their responsibility and burden.

The phone rang, interrupting Sean's thought and he took it.

« Ascalon. You weren't answering anymore. Are you alright ?

« We are but what's telling me the woman outside is your agent ?

« Wait a moment. »

As if on cue, something flew by the already broken window, startling Tara again before she glared at it. Sean took the badge, and showed it to Brenda, the one who had made the call to be protected by Ascalon. She glanced. Nodded.

« A team will be there shortly to take care of the rest. Our agent will stay in the meantime and make sure you're safe. »

Loud knocks rang on the door.

« That would be her. »

He prayed he wasn't making a mistake and went and opened the door, revealing a white girl in leathers and holding a helmet who looked eerily calm for someone who had just crossed a no man's land without a scratch.

Long dark brown hair, big dark and amused eyes, and a heart-shaped face, she was striking. Not beautiful like his wife and daughter, but there was something magnetic about her. The mark of power.

« You're not the Valentine, » Brenda said, whatever that meant.

That made the woman smile. « Indeed. I was near-by, so I was redirected when you called. »

She took her badge back and thanked Sean with a smile.

« My name is Riley. Mallory sent me, and you're safe now. »

And somehow, none of them doubted that they were safe now that she was here.

 

 

 

 

**Location unknown. Same time.**

 

Yes.

More than a word, a yes was a conviction. The answer to a question that required a commitment. A pledge to a decision. A consent.

That was the force of such a yes that fully brought him back, to the world where every thing hurt but every minute of life was worth it. His own yes, even though he had no voice at the time to declare it. But he had consented and whatever happened was biding.

_For now and forever._

Teddy Lewis opened his eyes, weak and in pain. Naked, he was laying on his back on a metal table, bound by thick chains. His skin hurt, as if it had been flayed alive but a quick glance taught him he was unhurt.

« Don't try to move. You're still weak. »

He looked down to see a black woman in a dark blue suit, kneeling on the floor and petting... Something. It could have passed as a dog, one of those wolf-like breed that was as tall as a woman on her knees, but it was white as snow, the kind of white that wasn't supposed to last for it had to be stained. And the worse was that the beast had no skin. Just an assemblage of powerful muscles, teeth and fangs, in a ghostly shade.

The woman didn't bother to look at him as she kept petting the skinless back while the hound was keeping still, as if the monstrosity did not dare to move.

« I did not mean to bring him for this, but the young ones are skittish and it's better to keep them close when they aren't bonded yet, » she said as if it explained everything.

Teddy tried to talk but the words stayed trapped in her throat as he made a pitiful sound. Too weak.

He wasn't in jail anymore. He had either lost it or he had either been right all along. Monsters were real.

« You can call me India, » she said, and when she smiled, he felt better. Everyone had looked at him with pity, hatred or scorn these days. But this fondness... He had not realized how much he had missed it. « I can't untie you now, you're still in transition. »

Teddy tried to talk but the words choked themselves in his mouth. Tears came to his eyes as he struggled to find this voice again.

« Take your time, » India said. « You stayed a long time without talking, so it can' be easy. »

It took a few tries, and India stayed patient and unbothered.

« What are you doing to me ? » he finally managed to say.

She sighted and got up before sitting on the edge on the table, her hand accidentally brushing his. The monster whined and rushed to her, circling around her feet like an eager puppy that needed the attention.

« I am saving you » India explained. « You were targeted by something... »

« A demon. »

« A remnant, » she gently corrected. « But it's close enough. Breaking you out wasn't easy, but we thought you were worth it. We... » She paused and something infinitely sad passed on her face. « We lost a lot of our comrades fighting one of them. »

Remnant. Something had indeed destroyed his life. And he wasn't the only victim.

Something demonic was roaming, destroying innocent people, and now, he had lost everything. His family, his friends, his love.

India caressed his face, as if she could read his mind. Her fingers were cool on his skin, terribly comforting.

« I am sorry we couldn't get to you before you were sent to jail, but after that the safest way to keep you alive was for you to be dead to the rest of the world. I am offering you a second chance and this is your new life. »

Something dark passed in the depths of her gaze. She closed her eyes for a second, and when she opened them, a fierce light was burning in them.

« The chance to never be weak again, » she whispered and her words rang true inside his mind.

Her hand passed on his chest, and his skin boiled under the cool fingers, warmth spreading all over his body. Teddy bolted but the chains kept him in place as each of his muscles was throbbing.

« Don't fight it. »

Teddy felt the change, trying to stop it but it was impossible to curb. His body changed, filling the whole table and the chains strained to contain the sheer mass of him. The world became clearer as his eyesight sharpened, and he was how his body had gained muscle and how his skin became white as snow. His arm barely looked human, and his hand was finished by talons.

He gazed at India, and love overwhelmed him. Not the kind he used to feel for Chloe, but something far more pure, a mix of devotion and respect, with something else far more wonderful. She smiled at him, and he knew it was shared.

She leaned and pressed her lips to the rows of teeth that weren't hidden by skin anymore.

« Beautiful, » India whispered. « My pale knight. »

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. The end of Haunted. I was planning something short, ten chapters maybe, but it got a little out of hand. I don't regret it one but. Writing a fic is something extremely stressful and wonderful, and I had fun.
> 
> When I started posting chapters, I remember saying something especially stupid, in the lines of "Even if noone read this story, I will keep writing it because I write for myself." But the truth is that if I did not have comments, I would have given up on this work. I want to thanks LadyIrina, that kept supporting me during these twenty five chapters. I have no word to express my gratitude for this incredibly talented author.  
> I don't know if anyone read this work, but if you did, I truly hope you liked it. :)
> 
> Now, a sequel is more than possible. Is anyone interested?


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